Information Set 1: Current Accounting Teaching Practices (CATP)

Interviews 31 accounting educators ( who has master c degree called junior educator and has PhD degree called seiner educator )

2 members from NCAAA

2 members from  SOCPA

Theme CATP 1. Curriculum Evaluation

• CATP 1.1 Poor Recourses

“The point that the professor doesn’t like is that we do not link practical cases to teaching, for example when the professor wants to explain documentation such statement of financial position for example she cannot bring real company’s documentation to apply on them , we only have to stick to the exercises in the textbook and the curriculum and explain them only . There is no linking to the Saudi labor market” (U1/2)

“I was responsible for teaching the government accounting curriculum at Community College, but it has absolutely no relationship with Saudi Arabia” (U2/3)

“Also our university to this time has not adopted the new standards and they are still using the gap. Even in the presentation and presentation of the financial statements, we still use the old criteria. So I see that they have a problem with adopting the new standards” (U2/5)

“So the female students became confused, and when practical cases are requested from the female students, we find that they are completely different from what we study. Then the female students ask me about evaluation and marks and how they will be held accountable, so I tell them that I will hold them accountable for the curriculum, which is weak in the first place” (U2/5)

“I’m teaching a textbook that is not applicable , since the textbook explains on cash basis , but we are now using the accrual basis so why I use a textbook is not about what is done now ” (U1/1)

“So the other subject in which the female students depend on slides that are given to them. So the female students are asking that you give them slides like the rest” (U3/3)

“the culture here means the textbook that the lecturer use in teaching. In the previous midterm exam, the lecturer was using an Egyptian textbook, the culture was predominantly Egyptian in terms of currency (pound) and cities (Alexandria- Cairo) and so on. Even the student in the exam , when the lecturer wrote Saudi riyals she eventually wrote pounds so the dominant character in that curriculum was the Egyptian character” (U1/1)

“all the exercises that educators used are related to companies in US not in Saudi Arabia” (U1/1)

“We rely on foreign textbooks, so there is no actually dependence on Saudi culture because the majority is from foreign sources” (U2/4)

• CATP 1.2 Cases Study

There is one academic member who mentioned about using cases study not from the curriculum and this means that the faculty members have flexibility to do that:

“Therefore, I place the ten marks on the basis of practical cases, activities, or other things that are not from the curriculum, but I like referring to them.” (U1/4)

Another accounting educator gave an evidence about that flexibility they have to use cases study for student assessment and to pick the topic that related to what they need:

“And the last case study was done on the Covid-19 crisis, where I asked female students to choose a sector of companies and write how the current crisis affected companies.” (U2/5)

Another academic staff indicated to a very important point that she used cases study to let the students identify the problems and solve them through critical thinking:

There is what is called critical thinking in every course, which I do by giving students a case and then asking them to think about it critically and link it to the subject that they are studying. And I evaluate this critical thinking through the case that I give to students and see if they have been able to identify the problem and solve it. This is among the teaching methods that I teach.” (U6/2)

There is an academic member who believes that cases study represents the differences between ethical cases:

“We also use case studies in order to distinguish between ethical issues and situations.” (U6/3)

Another evidence for that cases study which are not reflex the local expectations and influence another code which is the teaching language:

“The cases we are using for teaching are translated from English into Arabic with changing some information to adapt the courses, where the practical cases for students will be downloaded. All our cases are in Arabic, but the cases we searched for the references were in English, because there is no one in Arabic” (U7/2)

This faculty member has the same experience with the problem of cases study in Arabic:

“In fact, we wish Saudi companies would give us practical cases, but this matter represents a sensitive point for companies, and this thing makes our information insufficient and makes us invent practical cases to cover this deficiency, so we hope that there is someone who cooperates with us, even if only a small part of information, but everyone is keen on his company” (U4/10)

• CATP 1.3 Depends on Subject

Some educators mentioned that each one of accounting subject has a different teaching method. That depends on several factors. For example, auditing subject needs more practicals:

“In fact, the teaching methods depend on each subject. For example, auditing needs practical applications and cases, and it also needs cooperation with professional accountants.” (U2/4)

Another one said:

“The teaching method I use depends on the nature of subject.” (U3/3)

An academic staff who gave more explanation and details:

“As for bachelors, some accounting courses have no way of explaining and Clarification them to students except in the traditional way such as principles and explanation of accounting and the method of making restrictions, so the method that works here is the traditional method.

But in a subject, such as the auditing subject, in the traditional part of it, some programs are used that are used for sampling, and also sometimes we bring an external auditor to show the students the reality of work of the external auditing and also the same thing with zakat and tax accounting.

In the end, every subject uses the mechanism that is compatible with its outputs, and this is found in most of our subjects, such as the analysis of financial reports, which students give the right to choose a number of companies and makes all the reports for these companies from entries and financial position lists, and then after that she makes a presentation.” (U4/0)

Not only the nature of subject could affect teaching methods but also assessment methods. This faculty member talked about this point in more details:

“Where sometimes there is a course in which only one exam done, sometimes a course in which two exams done, and there is a course that is a case study, for example, the subject of Zakat and tax has 3 cases study, and I often give students a different case and a new idea that makes them search.” (U6/4)

One faculty member mentioned that teaching method is changed depends of the level of the subject. There is a different between junior and advanced courses:

“In the beginning subject, the method of teaching differs from one subject to another, as if the material is from the first four levels that all departments participate in and we do not interfere in the details much.” (U7/2)

“companies prefer if students have training courses in the use of office programs and some other accounting programs for related subjects” (U3/3)

“we try to teach students how to build a simplified accounting system according to their capabilities, and we also try to make them learn and work on Excel. These things are applied through the lab” (U6/2)

• CATP 1.4 International Standards

Teaching methods changed because of the nature of standards that Saudi Arabia shifted to. The international standards are more applicable and this influence the teaching methods as well:

“The Saudi market is now directed to international standards, which depend on judgment and appreciation, and international standards are completely different from the standards of the Saudi market that existed. Where there will be a difference in the thinking of the accounting student, it is imperative to start looking for a way in which the student can judge and evaluate matters accounting and not memorize the accounting rules recognized as it was in the past with Saudi standards. This affects the methods of teaching and evaluating accounting. With the aim of making the accounting curricula compatible with the Kingdom’s current approach to international standards, in the Saudi nationalization of jobs, and in obtaining academic accreditation.” (U7/0)

• CATP 1.5 Link to SOCPA

The SOCPA translated a group of accounting books to feed the educational bodies with these updated textbooks in the field:

“Currently, I teach intermediate 2 and internal auditing and both subjects depend on SOCPA textbooks which in turn depends on the International Accounting Standards (IFRS).” (U1/2)

Some universities totally depend on SOCPA’s textbook and they always waiting for their updating. This is an example from an educator who talked about her experience:

“For example, in the last semester because SOCPA did not update its portfolio quickly and we depend on it to deliver the latest updates and we were unable to explain the new. As for the current semester we got the authority update, and then I told the female students that they are lucky because they will study the new change. Female students are absorbers of what happen around them they are understood that the list is updated and that there is a body called the Zakat and Income Authority that applies the accounts that they study and this is what helps me as professor with the curriculum, and thus the female students merge and then the student comes to me to ask me and tell me honestly, Professor, that the Authority is implementing this, I tell her of course, they are very excited about this.” (U1/3)

CPA and SOCPA are not required for accounting academic staff. However, academics who have these professional certificates had changed their teaching style depends on what they have learned. This change impacts not only their teaching methods but also their teaching materials:

“The other point is also the difference in personal knowledge. For example, we have 3 or 4 female professors who had SOCPA, so their method of setting the exams, questions or discussion became different and stems from their studies, as an example of that, administrative accounting subject, as female professor I have to explain it according to the questions of the textbook and also I obligated to specific exercises that I solve, then I discuss with the female students and ask them do you want questions from SOCPA and I match or emerge them with practical cases like the ones we study, and I find the response is that they agree, but when I raise this matter with the female coordinators and the other colleagues, I find great opposition and I find the response that we are an academic side, why do you mix it with the practical side?” (U1/4)

Some universities have a good relationship with SOCPA and the teach their textbooks. An educator from one of this universities mentioned about that:

“We teach SOCPA textbooks that translated into Arabic. The translation is good, but it contained some errors and we have modified it, so there is nothing wrong with that. Our university has a good relationship with SOCPA, as there are many university owners from SOCPA, Dr. Al Jaber and Dr. Al Maghamis, who wish anyone to ask him for anything to amend it. Now it has become of great interest due to the expansion of the commission.” (U4/1)

Another faculty member mentioned about the SOCPA’s textbooks as the best one:

“For educational subject, I feel that we teach the best subjects where we teach from SOCPA’s textbooks, which is the newest one, as well as zakat and tax, as well as financial analysis, as the educational subjects I feel that they are good enough and I do not know about the rest of the courses.” (U6/4)

Another evidence for using SOCPA’s textbooks:

“For example, in auditing and zakat accounting subject, we use the SOCPA’s textbook.” (U7/2)

There is a faculty member who links her students to SOCPA in auditing subject:

“Yes, In the auditing subject, I always ask students, for example, what is the professional organization responsible for the auditing. The first activity that I request from them is to log onto the SOCPA website so that they know what is new, what are the new releases, and what are the new trainings. This activity has two marks of evaluation. So, I tell them to go to the site and register online so that they can benefit and be informed of all developments.” (U7/3)

One of the advantages of using SOCPA’s textbooks is mentioned by an accounting educator:

“The use of SOCPA’s textbooks is very nice as they follow (IFRS) and therefore they are applicable.” (U1/1)

However, some other universities have a good relationship with SOCPA, but they do not believe that its textbooks are the best:

“The department studies some SOCPA books, and we are not limited to the SOCPA’s references only, because by the end of the day, SOCPA is the body of the profession more than an academic body, but we must see what matches the description of the course that has specific goals, so the department chooses the appropriate books regardless of the reference.” (U7/0)

There is a faculty member who think that SOCPA’s textbooks are higher than the level of students:

“As for the SOCPA’s textbooks, they are higher than the student’s level, as their language addresses more specialists and not students in the early stages, and since we did not do this with students from the beginning, they are not used to this case.” (U7/6)

“We are trying to do a professional job, or at least for the students to study what qualifies them to obtain the SOCPA upon graduation, and praise be to God, we can say that this has succeeded. During the past five or six years, nearly 60 female and male students have obtained SOCPA, so this is one of the things, which we focused on” (U1/0)

“We also focused on CIA and created the internal audit course and the same we made the curriculum cover 70% of Part 1 in CIA so that our students graduate qualified” (U1/0)

“The same applies to CMA and its problem is only that it teaches in English, but we do the same thing in administrative and costs where we will focus on the student obtaining a high level of training in the CMA if the student wants to obtain it, and we spoke with the officials responsible in the Kingdom about CMA and the official came and did a seminar About the CMA exam and this is one of the things we focus on here” (U1/0)

“I educate them about the topic of professional certifications and how they affect their salary and their professional life” (U2/5)

Theme CATP 2 Influence of Culture, Religion and other Factors

• CATP 2.1 Religion

The faculty member mentioned that the religion is a part of some accounting subjects such as internal auditing and governance and this influence the accounting curriculum:

“As it mentioned earlier, some courses need to be linked to reality, such as internal review and governance. Therefore, some methods related to religion and ethics must be included in them, so the link is made.” (U4/0)

Zakat accounting is a mixed subject between religion and accounting. Accounting students need to know how to calculate zakat in financial statements:

“Yes, of course, through the subject of zakat accounting and how it is calculated in the financial statements.” (U4/1)

Accounting students also need to study the different between zakat and tax accounting system:

“There is a subject that called Tax and Zakat accounting, where we teach both tax and Zakat system in Saudi Arabia. And when I talk about companies, then I have to differentiate between Saudis and non-Saudis companies. Saudis pay Zakat and non-Saudis pay taxes, so this is definitely linked to Saudi culture.” (U4/6)

Interest rate is not allowed in Islamic religion. Saudi Arabia as a Muslim country against the interest rate for the whole transactions in the country. Faculty members while they are teaching accounting and passing this point they usually mention that interest exists abroad. This is because the textbooks they use are translated or in English language:

“Our university currently relies on English books as the newest, and as they are up-to-date and so on. But in most books that we have taught, we notice that they talk about the interest rate, etc. And these things are not available with us, as If the student asked me about these things; we tell her that they are applied in Countries that deal in usurious and other matters, as we consider that the thing that enhances this matter is not necessarily from the university itself, but rather from the academic community as a whole in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as they seek either to translate these books or reformulate them in a way that suits the Saudi identity and in a way that take into account our Islamic values ​​and the alternatives that the state uses as monetary financial tools for this usurious transaction, such as bonds, so here we do not have bonds, but we have an Islamic accounting course that talks about all Islamic financial alternatives, as we believe that this course can be accompanied in other courses instead of being an existing course in itself, but rather it should be used as alternative things in other courses, as development comes from the academic community and not necessarily from every university alone, as the accounting academic community works to provide resources for the female student, so the religious, cultural and Islamic identity is strengthened so that female students do not feel weak, as if we go to another community, and we talk about our culture and we prove that Islamic accounting and Islamic alternatives are better than usurious methods, as when we study this matter, we are convinced of it. We, as Muslims, unfortunately succumb or surrender to Western alternatives.” (U5/8)

• CATP 2.2 Culture Barriers

A faculty member mentioned that female students are more demanding than others:

“Most of the complaints comes from female students, they don’t want continuous evaluation, they just want to be examined and get high marks.” (U1/0)

One educator mentioned about the strict procedures to let someone from outside the university to come in and talk to the students:

“For example, your task is to bring a specific person to talk about the practical reality and the engaging the female students to this reality. Also, there is a difficult procedure to make a person from outside enters the university, and this is makes it difficult for the one who would like to bring someone for the students’ engagement, so these procedures should be alleviated to facilitate the process of development and engagement of female students in seeing the practical reality.” (U1/1)

Another educator from another university mentioned about the same problem:

“Because we have a problem hosting one of them on the female students’ section. Because when entering a guest, it is necessary to prepare one month in advance and bring permits and papers.” (U3/2)

Mixing between male and female in workplace is a serious topic in Saudi Arabia. Nowadays, some people think this is not a big issue any more, but some others not. A faculty member mentioned that academics could influence female students on this aspect:

“Now there is no obstacle in terms of mixing, so if there is a conference, then we have to attend. This talk may not have been acceptable 5 years ago, but there was a strong jump and there was development. The culture today has allowed us that the female accounting student can participate in the labour market more comfortably than before, even when she is under training, she does not have these old obstacles. In my opinion that the professors also has a great influence on the female students. You find the female student while she talks and discusses comfortably. Every professor is according to his influence, so the students became broad in their perceptions.” (U1/4)

In Saudi society teacher should give everything in the class to students including university level. It means students receive information from their teachers then study that information for exams:

“Saudi society wants the school or university to teach the student everything, and this is definitely the fault of society.” (U4/10)

There are some international standards that do not fit with the Saudi environment. A faculty member who mentioned about that and got an example from the topic of governance:

“When I explain the topic of governance, I link it to governance in Saudi Arabia because there are standards that do not fit the Saudi environment, so the students have to know the standards that fit the environment here, and because I did my master’s degree on standards and I made comparisons so I know what appropriate standards for Saudi Arabia are here and make the students search for Criteria and when they do not find the answer, I tell them in the lecture the correct answer.” (U7/3)

CATP 2.3 Flexible System

The assessment methods seem to be more flexible in some universities. An accounting faculty member mentioned that in her interview and she gave more details from her personal experience:

“I changed some things, for example, marks were divided as follows: 20-20 both midterm 1& 2, 10 marks for practical cases, and sometimes I link them to the Saudi market. The participation of students in the lecture and their interaction during the explanation were 5 marks, assignments 5 marks, and final exam was 40 marks. Where I encourage female students to participate and on the basis of that I assign grades for them, I do not want to stay on that much. For example, last semester a student came to me and said that she suffers from stuttering while speaking, so she is shy and cannot participate. This is why I know that perhaps some of the students have a circumstance that prevents them from participating, such as shyness and for this I am firm with them a little in case, duties and so on.” (U4/12)

The educational core rules are made on the university level. However, academic staff have the right to make some decisions:

“The division of marks from the university administration is 60 marks for the whole semester work and 40 marks for the final exam. The professor is responsible for dividing the 60 marks.” (U4/6)

More evidences came from a faculty member who mentioned about the same topic of the flexibility of assessment methods system:

“A faculty member can change the marks of case study or project to 20 degrees instead of 10 marks by prior agreement and not a random decision at the course level first, then at the department level and finally at the college level.” (U7/0)

Some assessment methods are totally depend on the academic staff:

“As for the assessment methods, it is divided sometimes into theoretical and optional, and this is according to each professor.” (U7/6)

Not only assessment methods were flexible in some universities but also teaching materials and methods were capable to change from faculty members as well. An accounting educator mentioned how the flexibility of curriculum gives the academics the motivation to develop themselves and their curriculum:

“I have been in this university for 10 years and when I started teaching I was benefiting from the experience of others colleagues and I used to take the curriculum and apply it only and it was boring. But when I developed my curriculum, the matter differed, and even that my personality differed, of course there is no problem in teaching certain elements, but it will be boring, but when the topic is not bound by boundaries, I will be enthusiastic to develop all the time. In the past, I had to adhere to a big curriculum because it ended at a specific time and it was inconvenient and even affected the quality of my output. And this is my point of view.” (U4/10)

Another example of the flexibility of curriculum comes from an educator:

“Today there was a proposal from a professor who teaches the accounting information systems subject, as she indicated that there are some similar chapters with another subject and she requested to amend the plan for this course and spoke with the head department and he agreed.” (U7/3)

The accounting department encourage its faculty members to change and adapt new teaching

Each one of the faculty members has a percentage of flexibility of her teaching. A faculty member mentioned about this issue with an example for an accounting subject:

“In the last meeting, it was stated that the member is supposed to have flexibility in the process at a certain rate. In the evaluation method for the subject of accounting in particular it must be taken into account that not every student is able to understand the teacher easy and directly, and we do not deny that this teacher is a professional or that he is familiar with the explanation, but there are some students who do not prefer the professor or do not accept him, as a female student who is close to her classmate can absorb the explanation of her classmate more, in addition to the fact that the student can sometimes be stressful, so there must be a comfort in the evaluation method.” (U5/6)

Accounting department accepts all initiatives from faculty members which are only comes up with the department vision:

“It is done based on linking the initiative to the department’s goal with the college’s goal with the university’s goal, when an initiative comes from a colleague who looks at it if it coincides with the department’s vision, which is most likely to link the department with the college.” (U7/0)

• CATP 2.4 Vision 2030

Saudi younger generations think about their future career first. This is because the life became more complicated than before. They believe accounting could be one of the filed that match with the Saudi Vision 2030. One of the faculty members mentioned that in more details:

“One of my students came to consult me in any field of specialization and I told her about politics or economics, then she asked me what economics or politics would work with the vision 2030.” (U3/1)

Theme CATP 3 Students’ Evaluation

•CATP 3.1 Exams

Methods of evaluation preferably diversification, as we have a quality unit that is keen on this matter and guides us on how to coordinate the subjects

But still the greatest reliance on tests

There are those who divide the FIRST MIDTERM and SECOND MIDTERM scores into 25 and 25 scores and the final exam of 40

As for me, I changed some things and the grades were divided as follows 20-20 MIDTERM and 10 degrees for practical cases, and sometimes I link them to the Saudi market and the participation of students in the lecture and their interaction during the explanation were 5 marks, assignments 5 degrees, and the final test was 40 marks” (U3/1)

“But the college and other departments evaluate 60% of the semester work and 40% on the final

– As for our department, the rate is 50% of the semester work and 50% of the final and this is due to the reasons which are that the number is huge so we do not want the student to graduate in accounting and he did not get 60 or 57

– Of course, the evaluation methods are divided into our 50 semester work, which is divided into 10 degrees, including duties, participation, and Quizzes. There are also midterm1 and midterm2 on each subject 20 marks and the final exam of 50 marks” (U1/0)

“As for assessment, unfortunately the majority of the students’ assessment is about her endeavour and performance in the tests where the grades are divided by ratio of 50-50” (U1/1)

“Exams are the optimal method of measurement, but engagement here is for consolidation and knowing the outstanding student before the exams” (U1/2)

“As for the evaluation methods, I as professor do quizzes, but frankly, with the increase in the number of students, I have stopped quizzes, and currently I monitor other female professors as they apply quizzes online. This is easier and I honestly intend to see this application later, but currently I have stopped quizzes” (U1/3)

“Our assessment is divided into 20 first midterm degrees, 20 second midterm degrees, and 10 degrees I professor divide them myself, which is based on assignments and presentations” (U2/1)

“As for evaluation methods, how are female students evaluated?

For me, I focus more on Quiz and I like to put Quiz after each class in order to measure the students’ comprehension level. Each Quiz has 10 marks

– What is the percentage of Quiz?

The percentage is 10%. 20 marks for midterm 1, 20 marks for midterm 2, 10 Quiz and 50 final exam marks. As for me, I am not held accountable for attendance and absence, because every female student is responsible for herself” (U2/4)

“We have 40% quarterly work and the final test is 60%.

How is 40% divided?

They are divided into 20 marks for first midterm, 20 marks for second midterm and 10 marks for other activities

– The final test is 50 marks

A former dean came and said that the evaluation should be done on a test and there must be a seminar and midterm

Then another dean came and said I will allow you to do different projects or activities

Unfortunately, sometimes some students are wronged” (U2/5)

“The evaluation is divided into (20-20) or (20-25). Also, there is a percentage for the duties because the student must train for exercises. Especially the cost subject, where the female student cannot understand this subject without training in it. I know that the female students may have the entire curriculum answered, but I want them to stay solve with the exercises themselves. As I work on making female students’ enthusiasm for the solution, and I tell them, I do not give mark for solution. I just want to know where you up to and what stood in front of you. Indeed, the students interact with that. There is also a percentage for the midterm exam. And also, a small percentage for extracurricular activities” (U3/1)

“As for the exams, most or even all of them became multiple-choice. This I see wrong because the student is supposed to know all the steps in the accounting course from beginning to end” (U3/2)

“The matter varies from time to time, as the 20-20 and final periodic exams are often 40 and 20 assigned to work such as PowerPoint work and articles” (U3/2)

“The assessment includes the tests, which are two midterm exams, with a 25 mark for each exam. As for the final exam, it is according to the university policy of 40 marks and 10 marks that are placed on homework, assignments or research, and this is according to each subject” (U3/3)

“This percentage in general, but if it were divided, it would be between tests and assignments, for example, tests 70 and assignments 30. For medium subjects, the same division. As for advanced subjects, it is divided into 50 – 50 or 60 – 40 and the percentage may reach 70% or 80%” (U4/0)

“First: We do a mid-term test. For advanced subjects, it has 25 in the first mid and 25 in the last mid. There are 10 marks on the application of assignments, and it is possible that we do quizzes for them because it is a theoretical subject. So now we give a review of auditing subject, so their evaluation will be as follows:

A first exam and a second exam, and there are also projects such as cases. There are signed practical cases, which students solve and obtain grades. Cases have a score of 10. There are 25 scores on each of the first and second exams” (U4/1)

“And even the same method for the evaluation method, where there is no modification or interference from the member during the semester. Where after I returned from travel I wanted to add a reading list because I felt it was important for the student to have a reading list, or even I wanted to add any addition, even a small one, but this is not permissible at all, as the teaching methodology and assessment methodology must be adhered to. In the beginning, the assessment method was 20 – 20 – 10 and these 10 marks were compulsory Quiz. And because the Quiz is doing like tests, it was cancelled and the marks became (25-25)” (U6/1)

“Assessment methods are sometimes presented through project cases in addition to the first midterm exams of 25 marks, the second 25 marks, and the final exam 40 marks 10 marks for a case study or project for the student” (U7/0)

“It is known that the evaluation methods are tests, oral presentation, and also evaluation on a written report, and now there is a work team evaluation” (U6/0)

•CATP 3.2 Other than exams

“Therefore, I place the ten degrees on the basis of practical cases, activities, or other things that are not related to the curriculum, but I like referring to them” (U1/4)

“I like to give the students Presentation homework for subjects that do not contain accounts. For example, the subject of banking accounting is all theoretical, so the students do Presentation work because I as faculty member like the class to be interactive and not just preparations” (U2/1)

“Because it feels as if we are counting the talent of the student in the test” (U2/1)

“As it is mentioned, the traditional method limits the skill of the student, because not every student can memorize” (U2/1)

“This was a period when I was doing projects and things of these, but because of the many differences with the administration. I came to say that between me and the female student her paper because the administration does not help me to develop” (U2/5)

“When we started implementing the idea, I put 5 marks on it, but after increasing the assignments imposed on female students, it ranged between 3 or 2 degrees. And the rest of the marks are distributed to the tests, as well as assignments or participation in the forums” (U3/1)

“Where there is a topic on the blackboard and female students share it and then they do the presentation

How many degrees are distributed to presentation?

10 marks is divided into 5 scores for participation in the forum and 5 marks for presentation” (U3/1)

“As for the exams, the questions are a multiple choice and assignments are sometimes articles or financial statements for this financial analysis subject for the bachelor’s degree” (U3/2)

“Some courses have practical cases on the basis of which evaluation is made, and some courses contain research such as master’s courses and some courses with presentations such as cooperative training or analysis of financial reports” (U4/0)

“For example, the cooperative training course, where the student discharges these courses completely for a period of 50 hours, where he conducts training in an accountant’s office or a company. Of course, the evaluation mechanism here is reports, and there is no final exam” (U4/0)

“When we meet in the department, it is not permissible for all the subjects to be evaluation and examinations, especially the advanced subjects, as the subjects that are in the beginning and that are in the specialization stage or the pre-specialization stage, here it is forbidden to tamper with these subjects so that the agent cannot do anything. There must be a committee that meets and decides whether they are men or women, and he must be have a doctorate. Of course, we are now a department that owns many PhD members because at the beginning we did not have any Saudi accounting PhD. We, thank God, now have three doctors, two of them from Egypt, and their bid is a bid for the sake of teaching, not a bid for reform, or change, or amendment, and it was the first men’s meeting” (U4/1)

“because our university is looking for accreditation, this leds us to cancel Mid1, Mid2 and final exams pluse quizes. Then replace them with case studies, research, presentations, and professional practitioners who come for giving some courses, there are also Workshops” (U5/0)

“After 25 marks allocated for the exam, there are 15 for presentation. The presentation should meet the conditions of the Rubric submitted because we do not want it as a research because we have one in advance and this experience It was good, but it needs to be modified, as seeing ideas like this applied in this way is good” (U5/0)

“It is a very wonderful thing from university students, and we also have in this same course two case studies. Of course, the case study differs from one course to another; there are courses in which it is similar to a practical exam. In this course it depends on critical thinking as we talk about contemporary issues, as they are based on theoretical based theories. Therefore, the case study was carried out by bringing an imagined company, for example, ABCD company, and it has a board of directors owned by a specific person, for example, Ahmed Abdullah, the position holder who has a license in design and one year experience, then we set a set of questions For example, in your opinion, does the company suffer from corporate governance? Is the independence absent or experience, etc. The examination consisted of papers that included a case study, consisting of approximately five questions, and each group included five students. Case study work is done in the class and we ask the students to form a circle with each other from five to six students in the group and this depends on the number of students in the class and then we distributed them to the case study in the class with the exclusion of all electronic devices and they can get the slides because the answer is not in it, but the answer lies in critical thinking and the method of analysis, how to analyze, and when the student sees the problem, as she has studied that the benefits of the board are in a specific form, there must be experience, etc. So the answer is not exactly present. As known, students do not want to study and memorize, and the teacher must try as much as possible to engage them. So we made that idea and it was very cool and it is worth noting that I gave students 50 minutes to work on studying and writing answers” (U5/0)

“There were 10 scores for the case study, as there were approximately five questions, and each question has two grades, and each student from the group is supposed to answer one of these questions, as it mainly depends on the work of the teamwork, and we mentioned to the students that not every student is responsible for solving only one question Rather, they are all responsible, but the structure is within these fifty minutes, it is up to the students, We as professors have worked on placing only five questions in order for the students to know that they can divide the questions, but this does not prevent them from being creative, like every two students take a question. We have carried out two case studies, and by that we have calculated 60 points, whereby the Mid 1 test counts for him 25 degrees, the presentation counts 15 degrees and 10 degrees for each case study and 40 degrees counts for the final test” (U5/0)

“As for grading in materials like accounting applications, it’s a little bit different from the traditional way, And as mentioned earlier this material has no final exam, instead there’s a test (Exam) for 30 marks and this test is not considered to be mid or final and it also doesn’t have any theoretical sections due to it being a test for skills regrading a certain section or part without having multiple choice or true/ false questions, also the test features case studies where the student uses data that is provided to her in order to achieve the desired piece of information” (U5/3)

“Marks range from semester work with 50 or 60 marks, and the final exam 50 or 40 marks. Except for the computer course, and because it is practical, it has 4 practical exams, which are divided into approximately 25 marks for each exam, and exams are carried out in computer laboratories.

What are the activities related to the semester work?

Often the evaluation tests and tools are derived from the learning objectives of the college. Each accounting program has learning outcomes and all outputs are 6 in number, and these outputs are distributed among the accounting department’s subjects, and these goals are:

• Knowledge
• communication
• Critical thinking
• Team work goal
• Using the computer
• Ethical and social responsibility

These goals are distributed among the subjects, but it is not a requirement that they be achieved in each subject” (U6/0)

“With regard to knowledge, the evaluation tool is exams where the female student achieves the knowledge goal or not

With regard to communication, there is a written and oral report, and this goal is distributed over approximately 5 subjects as the female student is assigned a specific topic and then she presents it orally. The same is for critical thinking in some subjects, where female students are given cases and evaluated on the basis of them. We have obtained international accreditation and we are now on the way to obtaining national accreditation, so we have experience in assessing goals. Where knowledge has certain features and these features are the definition of concepts, interpretation and application. This is if I want to know whether the female student has mastered knowledge or not. Example of financial accounting principles aiming at knowledge, and this knowledge has certain features, which are defining the concepts and what are meaning for, so the doctor gives the female student an example of what the meaning of assets. Explanation: Example: The doctor gives the female student the reason for assessing the stock by cost. Together, these features constitute knowledge. As for critical thinking, it has certain features, so the doctor gives the student a case and asks him to define the problem, collect data, analyze it, and a conclusion. As for the work team, I imagine that very few people know how to evaluate the work team. We have certain features in the work team, which are knowing whether the student can work in a work team or not, and how the work team is evaluated. Characteristics of a work team first that they can set goals. Secondly, case analysis: mong the features that the work team holds meetings and makes minutes of meetings and this minutes must meet the objectives of the meeting and then I evaluate this minutes and then I evaluate their project and then I give them one score for the whole team. But there is a point how the doctor knows who worked on the team and who did not. Of course, I have 3 things to evaluate the work team, which are they:

1. Evaluate the meeting minutes
2. Evaluate the project as a whole
3. Evaluating the work team for members

All of this has 10 marks, 5 of them for everyone, and 2 for the meeting minutes. Was the minutes done correctly or not? There are 3 marks to evaluate the team for a member, for example, let it be the team (X-Y-Z-L). (X -Y-Z) evaluates (L). Thus, I know whether the member worked properly or not” (U6/0)

“There is also written communication whereby students are asked to write on a specific topic and through the report the evaluation is made. As for oral communication, it is through the oral presentation, which takes place in some courses, where an oral presentation is presented by each student in front of the doctor and his classmates, and through this presentation, special features are evaluated that are supposed that the students have it” (U6/3)

“We also have two subjects in which there are 4 cases in which female students are given these cases and the division or department is divided into 4 students and this is because the case needs to collect information and interpret it. Therefore, we try to apply critical thinking in this subject because the goal of critical thinking is to define the problem and protect data and analyse it” (U6/0)

“According to my policy, I do not give the students a unified project so that they do not transfer from each other, so I give them several research topics, and I form a team and make them put in the worksheet the tasks of each person in the team so that the evaluation is fair and this happens in all the divisions and I evaluate each student according to her effort in the project” (U7/3)

•CATP 3.3 Attending

“as we have 10 degrees for the work of the year and we find here that there are some professors who put these ten degrees on attendance and absence

As for me personally, I see that attendance and absence is a punishment, so if a female student misses 12 hours from my lectures, I deny her, so on what basis do I put or place these grades on attendance and absence” (U1/4)

“- As for me, I am not held accountable for attendance and absence, because every female student is responsible for herself” (U2/4)

“As for attending Workshops and Conferences, it is assumed that these matters are calculated for the benefit of the student. There are workshops for female students, but they are external out of the university, so we are supposed to make it easier for the student in case she is absent for a specific reason not to count towards this absence, the warning and absence policy is not important to us as much as we care about the student obtaining the information and benefiting from it because it is a cumulative experience in The end of the matter” (U5/5)

“And we also see that one of the important things in the evaluation process is participation, participation is very important because the student must be active before we start explaining for example if we talk about tax accounting and we ask students about the meaning of tax since there must be interaction before Female students, just as we noticed that even if only one degree of participation was calculated from the assessment methods, this matter gives the students an incentive, also, we note that the level of understanding varies from one student to another, when a lecture is finished and professor come on the next day to give another one, he begins the lecture by returning to the previous lecture even if with a question in order to see the extent of the students’ absorption because starting with the next lecture directly will be a problem for us, and from this a problem arose that causes the student to claim Bonus with additional degrees to participate and we even found the subject of Bonus degrees a funny topic because the number of grades in the course is 100 degrees, so how we can give these Bonus degrees, so will the degrees become equal to 101 or 102?!!

In the past, participation was calculated for it by the grades of the course, some members were allocating these degrees to attendance and some others were in the student’s participation with the professor and so we prefer participation in general, because it contributes to strengthening the student’s personality, if we talked about the accounting principles course, when we teach Accounting principles, for example, teach students how to implement the accounting entries, and then on the next day or within the same lecture if they are two hours long, where we allocate half an hour or a quarter of an hour to participate, as this participation is not necessarily between two students, as professor writes two entries and ask the two students to go up to the blackboard and solve this talk and make an accounting entry, so we noticed that some female students were shy, so we always tell them, especially female graduates, that they will move to the job market after this, then the student has to deal with clients if she worked in a bank or deals with employees if she worked for a company and so on, as there must be circulation It is likely that she will suddenly be asked to take a training course, so she must learn enough to develop her own capabilities, this is very important.

Therefore, we tell the students that the teaching itself was encouraged by a professor, as it gave us practical cases and application about it, and in the next lecture, professor asked the student to go up to the blackboard to correct the application so that professor is doing the solution and the students are reviewing to make sure that professor answer is correct, this matter encouraged us as professors, and now we meet the audience and talk to them, and all the credit goes to our teacher, because these things are very important, but unfortunately they are ignored, and of course we must say that the relationship between professor and the student is a relationship of respect , a female student respects professors rights and we respect her rights as there are lines that should not be crossed, so professors interested in the participation of the student because it is possible for all students to get A + or B +, but the self-ability is also important in the job market, and this is the point that must be focused on.” (U5/6)

Theme CATP 4 Language

• CATP 4.1 Teaching Language

“The same applies to CMA and its problem is only that it teaches in English, but we do the same thing in administrative and costs where we will focus on the student obtaining a high level of training in the CMA if the student wants to obtain it, and we spoke with the officials responsible in the Kingdom about CMA and the official came and did a seminar About the CMA exam and this is one of the things we focus on here” (U1/0)

“The one which are traded in the market is extracted in Arabic and if they is extracted in English they must be translated into Arabic to be is extracted for trading in Arabic . This is because the field of accounting is practical , so why we teach the statements in English while they are extracted here in Arabic , and the lecturer agrees to teach them in Arabic . It is also true that we have studied English textbooks and others , but where is the Arabic, so we have to consolidate the language in which the outcomes are out in at the end whether it is Arabic or English and even if we teach them in English why we do not we modify them to suit our culture, for example, instead of saying dollars say riyals” (U1/1)

“We are trying at junior levels, but levels that are about to graduate, this is no longer working for them

Do you expect the reason for poor output is the language?

– I think this is true. Because I put a section in English for the female students, but they rejected it strongly and I had to explain it, and this is because it was in English

But you say that your study is in English?

Yes, we have study in English, but female students don’t have any language. They only translate the words and they just memorize it

But how do they reject an assignment that is in English while they are studying in English?

Because the clip was an American person speaking, and there is no writing that my sister would take and turn it into a written text” (U2/4)

“But we have a problem with the curricula, which is that it is in English, which is a problem that female students still face. Because of studying accounting in English, students cannot delve into the subject” (U2/5)

“In fact, the lecturer agrees to teach subjects such as management or marketing in English because this subject can be used in reality, but accounting is not, she also may agree on knowing the accounting terminology. for example, at the beginning of each term, she is given a list of English terminology to use them in the subject, for example, the term of “Statement of Financial Position” and its equivalent, and send it to the students and she also put it in final exams. But the lecture does not agree to teach the entire subject in English because the statements in Saudi Arabia is in Arabic on the contrary the student may face a problem while working because she may not know the term or application in Arabic. Achieving balance between the labour market demand for English Language and the study of subjects in Arabic” (U1/1)

“They study accounting in English, so the outputs are zero, and for this, most of the graduates from the accounting department are unemployed and rejected in the workplace” (U2/3)

“ I like references and English books because they provide information easier. When I studied in English the information was easier than Arabic books, so for me English books are better. And when it is translated sometimes its beauty is lost, so I like the English references. But when we come to the reality, companies are still required to export the lists in Arabic, so the labor market wants Arabic. The accountant is required to issue lists and explain their terms in Arabic” (U4/10)

“She said that the accounting departments that teach in English do not delve much into the subject” (U2/5)

“It is not a weak point at all for accounting to be in Arabic. Perhaps if it was in English, it would have become a problem. Also, we cannot forget that our general education is in Arabic and for the sake of converting from one language to another language; I think it is very difficult” (U4/10)

“We have a problem with the language as well, as we teach in Arabic and the market wants English. Therefore, we recently gave terms in English to each course” (U6/0)

“In fact, according to the companies, if the companies are foreign, then I am with opening a special section in the English language at the university, and if the community does not have foreign companies, what is the need for teaching students accounting in the English language” (U6/2)

“Therefore, graduates of the accounting department in Arabic are always better at accounting than graduates of English, and in the end language is a skill that student can acquire” (U6/2)

“Because the state dictates that the financial lists are listed in the Arabic language, so how can a student write lists in the English language while she does not learn Arabic while teaching, she will find it difficult. There are many students who graduate from this university and go to training in other colleges, so private companies that write their lists in the foreign language tell us that the only advantage of the female student at Prince Sultan College is the English language, but if our students possess some of the English language terms, this is better” (U4/1)

“But all must be taught in Arabic because SOCPA refused to convert the content into the English language because writing financial statements and specifying the explanations must be in Arabic. English terminology is easy to deal with, but when we translate from English into Arabic, this poses difficulty for the student” (U4/1)

“We will not need the English language afterwards. As Arab countries, we have to adhere to our language, it is not a shame for us to learn a second language, but we have never seen before that there is a country that goes to another country and teaches a language other than its required language, as foreign science translates it into Arabic and then we teach it for students” (U4/1)

“If teaching accounting in English affects the quality of teaching and the quality of information, Then it is preferred to be in Arabic because if the accountant enters any company he can understand , but accounting in English is very easy abroad, the professor only cares about the good quality of the information. She knows Saudi universities teach accounting in English but their graduation is not good, the student does not know much about accounting and there are universities that teach accounting in Arabic where we find female students are very good at accounting and understand it well. In accounting the most important thing is the quality of information, if the student is ready to study it in Arabic he can do so , and if he is ready to study it in English he can do so ” (U1/2)

“The professor expects that the curriculum will be taught in English because if accounting is taught in English this does not necessarily mean that the student understands English, even when he joins to the university and studying subjects in English does not mean that he can interact in English , even if he likes to practice it in day-to-day interaction he can’t , for example the student who wants to get 6 or 6.5 in IELTS he cannot rely only on an English accounting major , and he must study” (U1/2)

“The other thing, which may be a mistake from Saudi universities, is studying accounting in the English language” (U2/3)

“In the accounting department, the first and second levels teach in English. All major subjects are in Arabic. We teach governmental accounting in Arabic language. They are compulsory subject. In fact, I think that if the basis subjects is in English and the rest in Arabic that would be better. Because there are subjects such as costs that are difficult to teach in the English” (U3/1)

“This is considered an advantage because all the private colleges and legal accounting office’s deal in the English language, so you will not find a student of theirs who understands those accounts in Arabic. As for our students, they know this and have the ability to learn English as well, and this I see is an advantage” (U3/2)

“In spite of that, the accounting and auditing offices asked us to study accounting in the Arabic language, and this is because companies are obliged to issue their lists in Arabic and most of the accountants in these companies are foreigners, so a student who studies accounting in Arabic is like a link between the company that produces its lists in Arabic and the accountant in English” (U3/3)

“I support the Arabic language, majoring in accounting. Because the work environment and the reports must be in Arabic, so if the student does not understand each term and its details in his own language, he will not understand it in another language” (U4/0)

“Therefore, we support the Arabic language and consider it the basis of our strength at King Saud University” (U4/0)

“I see that it has become a need, but I am not with the education of accounting in the English language, but it is necessary in order to access the sciences whose sources are the English language. The advantage of the English language is that it has high clarity. I see that as a faculty member I can study and learn from English as a much better resource than Arabic and this is what makes it so desired. But in the explanation, of course, I prefer Arabic because students will understand more” (U4/12)

“This is because the job market wants the English language and this is better, perhaps because the student will be readier for the job market. This is among the suggestions now and I feel that this is the time because the world needs that, and this will qualify students to work for foreign companies” (U6/1)

“In the accounting subject, the student must understand the subject more than take the language, where the language can be studied later in a course and become a professional in it, and this is what we see now in the labor market, when Saud’s female students go to training, they are selected and have priority because they have accounting knowledge. Of course, there are female students who are developing themselves in the English language, so when they graduate, they have the required and good capabilities” (U4/6)

“we have made a paradigm shift in the accounting department at PNU, first, we, as a government university, teach in the English language” (U5/0)

“I studied everything in Arabic and I felt like I was in the market, buying and selling, but here in the English language curriculum I didn’t feel like that” (U2/1)

“student must possess knowledge in her mother tongue and I have spoken this view repeatedly with the program director and with colleagues because when I study accounting in the Arabic language and I can understand it, it will be easier for me to learn the terms and meanings in the English language, but when I am not able to understand it well Because there is a foundation stage, when the student studies financial accounting and intermediate accounting, and if the student is not able to possess the information in these subjects because of her weakness in the English language, this will negatively affect her performance, which will be weak compared to her studies of these courses in her mother language, so the student must study in her mother language and then acquire the skill of the English language and it will be very easy for her to understand but if she is studying in the English language and she is weak then this means that I did not help the student in learning accounting or in learning the language then the student is dispersed so she is in the test and she does not know the meaning of a specific word” (U5/8)

“I feel a big problem that we are in an Arab country and we teach in English” (U6/4)

• CATP 4.2 Student’s English Background

“This is the role of the preparatory year, at our University there is a preparatory year for students to study English” (U1/1)

“So the issue depends on the student’s understanding which means if the student understands English then he will be taught in English. That’s true, but the professor feels that there is no difference in the language, especially since SOCPA now is given in Arabic and its tests are in Arabic” (U1/2)

“I support teaching in the English language, but what I see is that the students do not have that ability as their structure is not like that in the first place” (U2/1)

“The other thing, which may be a mistake from Saudi universities, is studying accounting in the English languag. This is because the female students are not yet qualified for this. I suggested to the Dean during the last meeting to focus on the English language in the preparatory year” (U2/3)

“I against teaching accounting in English. This is because when students are studying in English, they waste a lot of time in translation. But if studying in Arabic, students can search for the idea and read about it. In fact, my studies were in English and it was not good either, but when I went to America, the language improved and became easier. But from before going and when I was on the bachelor I suffered a lot” (U2/4)

“Also there are papers and research that female students do, but when I used to put them in English, I saw unlogic answers from students, so I had to change them in Arabic” (U2/5)

“we have the problem of female students ’level in the English language. Our students need to work a little bit more on their English language” (U5/0)

“We have the language barrier, but if students pass the language barrier, they can succeed” (U5/0)

“let’s say that this is maybe the style of public education , but there must be something in the middle to qualify the student for the university stage” (U1/2)

Theme CATP 5. 1 Participation

• CATP 5.1 SOCPA

“In fact, I as professor try as much as possible to relate it to the Saudi labor market, but this depends on the quality of the course, for example in costs, I could not link it sufficiently to Saudi culture, but the tax course that is based on the list of taxes for the Kingdom and the income tax regulation for the Kingdom and every semester I say for female students, there have been changes in the list due to the recent changes. We are trying to provide female students with the latest changes. For example, the last semester because the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants did not update its portfolio quickly and we depend on it to deliver the latest updates and we were unable to explain the new. As for the current semester we got the authority update, and then I told the female students that they are lucky because they will study the new change. Female students are absorbers of what happen around them they are understood that the list is updated and that there is a body called the Zakat and Income Authority that applies the accounts that they study and this is what helps me as professor with the curriculum, and thus the female students merge and then the student comes to me to ask me and tell me honestly, Professor, that the Authority is implementing this, I tell her of course, they are very excited about this” (U1/3)

“The other point is also the difference in personal knowledge. For example, we have 3 or 4 female professors who studied SOCPA, so their method of setting the test, questions or discussion became different and stems from their studies, as an example of that, the administrative accounting subject, I as female professor must explain according to the questions of the book and also I obligated to specific exercises that I solve, then I discuss with the female students and ask them do you want questions from SOCPA and I match or emerge them with practical cases like the ones we study, and I find the response is that they agree, but when I raise this matter with the female coordinators and the other colleagues, I find great opposition and I find the response that we are an academic side, why do you mix it with the practical side?

Of course, this is due to the different cultures and that it is people who accept change and people who do not accept your judgment as they have been accustomed to a certain pattern of work for more than 15 years, and perhaps we all have this kind of aggression against change, so it is difficult to change a pattern that I used to for a long time. This thing affected us, so to avoid this, we became committed to the curriculum, and whoever is concerned about the matter or the change does these additions by himself or herself” (U1/4)

“We teach SOCPA books translated into Arabic. The translation is good, but it contained some errors and we have modified it, so there is nothing wrong with that. The university’s relationship with SOCPA is good, as there are many university owners from SOCPA, Dr. Al Jaber and Dr. Al Maghamis, who wish anyone to ask him for anything to amend it. Now it has become of great interest due to the expansion of the commission” (U4/1)

“As for educational subject, I feel that we teach the best textbooks where we teach from the SOCPA books, which is the latest thing, as well as zakat and tax, as well as financial analysis, as the educational subjects I feel that they are good enough and I do not know about the rest of the courses” (U6/4)

“The department studies some SOCPA books, and we are not limited to the authority’s references only, because in the end the body is the organization of the profession more than an academic body, but we must see what matches the description of the course that has specific goals, so the department chooses the appropriate books regardless of the reference” (U7/0)

“The matter varies according to the material, for example, in the review material, the SOCPA book is used, and the Zakat book also uses the SOCPA book” (U7/2)

“Yes, I do this where in the review course, where when I enter I always ask students, for example, what is the professional organization responsible for the review. The first activity that I request from them is to log onto the SOCPA website so that they know what is new, what are the new releases, and what are the new trainings. This activity has two degrees of evaluation. So, I tell them to go to the site and register online so that they can benefit and be informed of all developments” (U7/3)

“As for the SOCPA’s books, they are higher than the student’s level, as their language addresses more specialists and not students in the early stages, and since we did not do this with students from the first, they are not used to cases” (U7/6)

• CATP 5.2 Cooperative Training Program

Linking students to the labour market is when the student goes to training in one of the Saudi companies on her last term at the university. (U1/1)

“In fact, the training experience gave the female students information, confidence in themselves, and a different education from the university, and made them benefit a lot. When the training topic was started in the beginning, we fear of what might happen from negative evaluations and others, it was possible for the number of female trainees to reach only one female student. Now the female students of the batch all want to go out in training. So I say that the experience was very beneficial to female students, and this is other than that most companies employ female trainees in” (U3/3)

“These companies have not concluded an agreement with them until after making sure that there is a place ready for female students. But due to the increase in the numbers that go to training, the number that we agreed with was a few as companies. So we started by telling female students that if they find training opportunities on your own, then talk to us and we will contact the company. If we find a field in the company and it is ready to train you based on the training system that we demand, there is no problem” (U3/3)

“Yes, they try it a lot. We also have cooperative training in which the female student is trained abroad. But we do not know how female students treat, is it good, nor are they taking advantage of her because she provides them with the salary” (U4/12)

“And what I hope is not to take the summer training, as it is not necessary for the student to graduate after 4 years; it is okay, even if they are 5 years, but so that the student is qualified for the job market. Therefore, I hope that in the summer the student will go to work or train and this is in order to gain experience and this is what the labor market requires” (U6/0)

“The department believes that coop training helps a lot in this issue of keeping up with students who graduate from accounting with the Saudi Vision 2030. The department also has an agreement with “KPMG” as we mentioned previously and “KPMG” Riyadh and Eastern Jeddah, as well as there is a future plan to make agreements with accounting offices. By preparing the student to work in these global “Big 4” organizations or national companies, by convincing these bodies of the department’s output in the summer. So that after the student graduates, she is examined for a period of two months, and through the performance and seriousness of the student, opportunities are opened to her after graduation after the company that the student trained with had tried to deal with her in advance because sometimes the certificate alone is not sufficient in communication, so companies are interested in other factors such as personality” (U7/0)

• CATP 5.3 Others

“As for linking with the business market the professors are constantly asked to link their cases with cases that are currently present even when giving examples so instead of talking about company A or company B The names are specified like SABIK and ARAMCO and that was part of the new plan by the department which led to an increase in student engagement and this was also used in Case studies, last semester there was a project in the material of accounting applications that entails communicating with a small or medium-sized Saudi company and learning about the programs used by these companies and these were subjects from the business market and the nature of said material gave the professors more freedom in their work” (U5/3)

“We asked KPMG office to give our students an opportunity to train with them so the female students could learn how is the work in those offices” (U3/2)

“sometimes people who working in the Saudi market are brought and they explain what is happening in practice. For example, in government accounting, a colleague brought up the reason for changing the cash basis to the accrual basis. Also, the subject of zakat and tax, a colleague brought people from the Zakat and Income Authority and gave lectures to students on the Saudi reality” (U4/0)

“In order to keep up with the profession, we have to host professional people from outside the country and hold talks with them and get permits from them so that they come to dialogue with the students. So that they know that the scientific subject that we teach them is the same as that applied to the market, and this is what gives them great confidence in the university outputs” (U4/1)

“in advanced accounting, there is a topic about consolidation of lists, and we would like to link it to the practical side, so we talked to someone to unify the financial statements, and he must be someone who works in private companies and has sufficient experience, the department’s deputy accepted, so we spoke to the female head of the department to agree By giving a permit, and she welcomed this initiative , and as for the company and the head of the department, they agreed to any lectures such as the online class and they welcomed them, as all the advanced subjects must be hosted by professional people; In order to welcome the female students” (U4/1)

“In Tax and Zakat subject, there were a request to have a contract with professional practitioners as a part of their community service. In order to give students examples from the reality” (U5/0)

“it’s Important to have a guest speaker and that depends on both the professor’s and the guest’s free time during the semester, the guest speaks talks about the field of accounting applications for example and his experience with the programs that are used in the university and its importance and benefit and his overall experience” (U5/3)

“Therefore, last year, we brought an employee from KPMG who taught the students about the zakat declaration and how to prepare it, and the students asked a number of questions and sometimes some of questions were difficult for the professor to answer” (U5/8)

Barriers

“For example, if you want to bring someone from outside, it is very difficult. Even in the training that we have for the ninth grade, we suffer greatly until we find training bodies that train female students because there is no clear strategy between universities and employers. If we assume that there is a clear strategy and a deal where there is compulsion from companies to educate and help female students, because basically when these students graduate, you will target them as an employer. So we wonder why there are no private sector programs with the university”(U4/6)

Theme CATP 6.1 Gender Issues

• CATP 6.1 Academic Centralism

“Even when exams come and I’m as a female educator forbidden to read them. And also the method of teaching is different. Men`s department study in a different way and we are different and then send questions. This is a very gross injustice. And you as a female professor do not look at the questions in any way? There are department heads and course coordinators, some of whom say to us as female professors: Put several questions and I will choose the good ones” (U2/1)

“One of the things that I hope will change is the subordination to the men’s division in things like test questions” (U2/1)

“Male section has more connection to the professional sectors. This is because one of them is a member of the board of directors in a company and another who owned an office in Jordan. And the last one is a head of an internal audit unit” (U3/2)

“our department meetings are between both male and female educators, we see the male’s members from behind a screen, and when we want to express our opinion, we press a button and talk, but most of the time they do not listen to us and do not care about what is said. I think that most of these meetings are not useful” (U3/2)

• CATP 6.2 Administrative Independence

“women’s section is completely independent. Is it possible for you to explain the independence of the women’s section in particular and there is what is called the head of the men’s section and there is no such thing as the head of the women`s section? We are talking about independence in following up on educational matters and study schedules. We are talking about independence in terms of administrative matters. As for educational matters, textbooks are standardized, and each course has a coordinator, but the evaluation mechanism is one” (U4/0)

“There is a difference between male and female sections. Female students cannot understand properly with male educators, but we don’t have enough female educators to teach our female students” (U2/1)

• CATP 6.3 Female Advantages

“We are considered a woman’s leadership and Empowerment. This is very beautiful. We grow in our students that they are the pioneers of the future and the change leaders in any field, whether in accounting or business administration or in design specializations, and in all of them regardless of the field, we aspire that PNU students become pioneering, our example or leader is Dr. Enas and she is very inspiring and this is what gives the university its own kind of appeal, we are also at a young university, and our staff is very young, especially in the Business School, compared to King Saud University” (U5/0)

“female faculty members are mostly at a young age , the openness of the country that is taking place, and the opportunities currently offered give students opportunities to enter the accounting branch of PNU” (U5/1)

“companies prefer female students in cooperative training program. Maybe this is because female students are more obedient and calm” (U3/2)

“PNU has always considered and seeks to be a leader always in the field of female support” (U5/0)

“Regarding female empowerment, accounting female students should be graduated with perfect information and since there are many fields for employment of females in general, so she should be employed not only because she is a female but because she is qualified and deserves it” (U1/1)

“we have experienced change and our current trend is to localize the profession in addition to empowering women, and all these things are in our interest, but now we are academically aiming to prepare female students for the job market” (U5/5)

“The strength lies in the fact that we are graduating female, and at this time the labor market has become more demanding for female than in the past, as the number was less in the past” (U5/5)

“Now there is a great trend to empower women, and the opportunity to employ female students will be great” (U6/0)

“empowering women is putting them in the right place for them, in which they can excel, not just placing them in every field with the aim of increasing the percentage of female occupancy. So everyone should know the right place for their abilities” (U7/6)

• CATP 6.4 Society Requirements

“Secondly, from the reality of my dealings in training, the society’s view of the economics and management specializations regarding the issue of mixing, and this is an obstacle that I am trying to deal with. Because we have in the college, they require that female students who want to go for training have the approval of their parents in writing and in presence. Where there is an existing letter for the female student who wants to go for training to print this letter and the parents initially approves the training and then delivers it to the department and then if the female student comes to train in a company, her guardian comes to the college, the cooperative training department and passes the approval, that he agrees the female student goes to training

Do you feel that it is an incapacitating condition? Indeed yes, I am trying to fight this matter, but there is talk that this semester is the last and that this condition will be canceled from next year. But in fact I fought with all my power to prevent this and this is because I saw worse than bad situations regarding this condition. Because I did not imagine that there are parents who would be an obstacle in the way of their children and the permanent excuse was the subject of mixing. This is a culture of a society, and I don’t know how long it will last. I am trying to understand the female students who wish to do their part by communicating the matter to their parents that every company has a special section for women and this is obligatory by the Ministry of Labour. But this is not necessarily meaning that the female student will remain seated in her place, and it is also possible that a man will train her. Because no matter how long women work in the private sector, they are still simple and do not have much experience and the experience most of which are found among men and foreigners. The state’s tendency is to replace foreigners with Saudis, whether they are men or women. This is what I am trying to communicate to parents, but no benefit from some of parents” (U3/3)

“Also among the criticisms is the subject of the parent`s approval” (U3/3)

“I think that this matter has a relationship to the Saudi society as a whole, as it is always known that female students are more skilled than male students, and this is due to the fact that female students do not go out often from home and therefore study a lot and also the presence of high competition in their field of work. This is also because female students have fewer specializations and also perhaps because of the leniency of male students who are more accustomed to working sometimes from their youth. I want to point out that the upbringing of the Saudi girl helped her to become in this way, and this is because society was previously inclined towards males, and the girl from her youth was trying to prove herself and she has no way to do that except studying” (U6/4)

“With regard to Zakat, we have 5 marks of oral presentation, which female students are supposed to go to companies and make a report, but most of them refuse to leave because of parents didn’t agree, so I ask student to give presentation” U6/4)

“One of the problems we face is that some companies do not receive female students, as they say that they do not have a place to allocate to female students” (U7/6)

“In our university, for example, we do not have a mixed environment, so we are supposed to motivate female students to work in a mixed environment in order to get used to society, but this is against the Saudi culture that we have. We don’t want to talk about things that are against us. We want things that are compatible with our community. I want to motivate female students to open their own accounting offices, and this requires fellowship, of course, and when this happens there is a section in the office for men and a women’s section. If we look at Riyadh, we find that they have that, but they do not have a problem with mixing, but this idea does not agree with all regions because the culture here varies according to the place” (U6/4)

“The second point in the Saudi culture is in training, as there are some families of students who say we do not want any place where there is mixing, then we tell the students that there are places such as charities that do not mix and their training is very good and we do not send the students unless we are sure that there is a place dedicated to them, at least they are A room in which you can pray or eat and take a rest. This is because there are some parents who are afraid of the idea of ​​their daughter sitting in a place or office that has men for a long time, and this is due to Saudi culture and Saudi society, and these requests are taken into consideration. Also, the training period, sometimes female students are not in the city, because some families have different places of residence, so we take that into consideration” (U7/6)

“The number of female educators is few compared to male section. The communication between sections is lack because they are separated” (U3/2)

• CATP 6.5 Female Demanding

“Of course there were complaints about the rates and how girls have higher rates than boys. This because most girls are skilled than boys” (U1/0)

Theme CATP 7. Teaching Evaluation

• CATP 7.1 Educators Updating their Information

“I like reading a lot, for example, in accounting systems, we have a great example, which is about Toyota and Hyundai, in the 1980s when automation entered Hyundai how they started working on now, Toyota was already using machines, so this was a threat to Hyundai that it would lose its company as a whole in The mid-nineties, but gradually managed to keep up, even if you noticed their financial statements or lists from 1987 to 1992, they were at a loss, but they tried to catch up with the development processes, unlike General Motors, which lost because it refused to change from manual to automatic for fear that the employees would lose their work, unlike Hyundai that used the change gradually, and of course they had a strong competitor heading to, which was Japan. In my opinion, the issue is related to a link to the labor market due to the professor’s background. Another point also is I am doing an activity and another colleague is doing another activity and we link it to the job market, because the nature of our work requires going back to the industry and knowing everything that is happening again.

“sometimes I bring cases study on topics about companies, for example, as happened with Mobily Company and the fraud that occurred with it and the manipulation of profits. This would connect female students to the labor market. When I also talked to them about the acquisition that took place between Uber and kareem. With these cases that I do and explain to female students, it gives them an idea of the labor market and its reality” (U2/5)

“regard to the subjects of costs and zakat that I teach, I used to give female students topics that they are looking for in reality and the market. Like the subject of the new tax systems and I used to make female students enter the Zakat Authority website and review the executive regulations and laws. I wanted to link female students and prepare them for the job market and deal with it. As for the cost subject, I used to tell female students to search for a factory from the factories and bring its data and compare it with what we study. But the factories don’t always give female students data. Among the assignments that I have entrusted to female students is the impact of the Corona crisis on companies’ financial statements” (U3/1)

• CATP 7.2 Personal Experience

“I can say that, upon the explanation, I talk about working in banks because I worked in a bank before and I am trying to show for the female students the reality of work there” (U2/1)

“For example, the external audit subject, I linked it to what I studied in the external audit, but if I had worked in audit offices, the link would be greater” (U6/4)

“When I explain the topic of governance, I link it to governance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia because there are standards that do not fit the Saudi environment, so they have to know the standards that fit the environment here, and because I study my master’s degree on standards and I made comparisons so I know what appropriate standards for Saudi Arabia are here and make the students search for Criteria and when they do not find the answer, I tell them in the lecture the correct answer” (U7/3)

“As for the evaluation methods, I hope that the focus will be on research, as the female students are assigned to conduct research, where 40% of the research is monitored and 60% of the final. I hope that this curriculum will be applied. It has already been applied in Britain, and it was wonderful” (U2/3)

“I had studied in US. The most of what was used there I used here with my female students, but it was not acceptable to the students, but at least I tried” (U2/5)

“We studied abroad and saw that perhaps the teaching methods are almost the same, but it is possible that the laboratories differ and there are some courses that use laboratories, but it needs a larger number. Where there are laboratories for the selection of samples and application in the review. In the sense of creating a miniature environment similar to the external review environment” (U4/0)

“one of my female colleague teach in her own way and put her experience that she came with from Australia and it was good” (U4/10)

“To address and recover problems, we need a strong work team with strong qualifications, and this is a big problem for the female section because most of my colleagues have their bachelor and master degrees from our University. However, most educators from male section have qualifications from abroad. This is because of the travel procedures and the necessity of having a (male escort) with female, and this is why most of our female colleagues have not gone abroad” (U4/12)

“male educators have more chance to get an external scholarship than female educators. This is because of family and cultural barriers” (U5/0)

“I studied master abroad which is different from here , but I adopted and succeeded. Now, I tried to apply the strategy that benefited there , but I cannot” (U1/2)

• CATP 7.3 Educators’ expectation

An educator gave an evidence that the accounting department cares only about improving the academic ability of its staff but not their personal development:

The department is heading towards development in terms of the academic situation. The problem is that as people we want attention and development, so we want courses or conferences to increase our expertise and development, and even if they increased hours, I as a faculty member don’t complain, because this is my choice. In fact, I am studying the fellowship, but I know that it will not add to me in my post but it will benefit female students.” (U6/4)

“As an example, I am doing an activity that I call information and accounting systems through which I link the curriculum to the industry and I create a chart flow, and make them see how the financial sector, the productive sector, or the retail sector looks, all by making a chart flow. As for the implementation of that idea, I was asking female students to do this at home, but now the curriculum has given me a lot of space at work so I bring papers with me and divide them into equal groups until everyone gets equal participation so that if there is a question or something, I discuss the whole group, unlike that the question is raised and I wait for an individual answer from the girls, as some female students are not interested, or that they are discussing with each other and make only one girl who is discussing with me, until I reached the idea of the group better in that they work harder” (U1/4)

“I am responsible for cooperative training throughout the college. So I know what female students are missing in accounting, and this is through my communication with companies that explain to me what things are missing or what are their requirements. So I know what companies actually want, so when I give female students this subject, I try to get them to focus on parts that will benefit them in the future. Therefore, I became keen to provide female students with a large amount of information and even that information that I receive from the female students in this subject. From the reality of my dealings with companies and from the information that I received from the female students, I was able to know that the Excel accounting program is required and that the female students need to know this program and how to deal with it. Therefore, I have drawn the students’ attention and this is because Intermediate Accounting 1 is the first subject to being studied after specializing in the Accounting Department. So the female students come to me and they have studied principles in English and also intermediate in Arabic so I make a great effort to try to understand the accounting for female students, but this is something for me not that big because I know what is happening on the ground. So I keep working on explaining the medium from the beginning of the study until before the exam because its practical cases do not end” (U3/3)

• CATP 7.4 Motivation on Educators

“it started when the professors where encouraged to build relationships with external bodies due to cooperative education because PNU has a substantial number of students in comparison with other universities” (U5/3)

“I was planning to have the SOCPA, then find a work in a company for a year, then return to my PhD, but this idea had been deleted at all because I found many obstacles, so I think this matter might be done through the college” (U6/4)

“the link depends largely on the professor, does he have a desire or not, because this is probably due to the reason for the lack of motivation” (U6/4)

“the idea of linking depends in the end on the faculty member because he is greatly influenced by what is around him because he only wants what motivates him and makes him develop and continue” (U6/4)

There was one of female members who wanted to join a company in order to study a specific accounting program, so she requested permission for that so that she could go, and her request was rejected. This is because they might be busy with the national accreditation” (U6/1)

“as employees, every person wants to preserve his rights, and by virtue of that I am a lecturer or Teaching Assistant, I find myself somewhat marginalized from others. So the lecturer or Teaching Assistant if she does all the work on PowerPoint, for example, she wants to preserve her right, as if she put her name on the subject, but this matter is forbidden for quality” (U1/4)

• CATP 7.5 Educators Summarise Accounting Information

“We focus only on slideshows, most of which are theoretical lectures. I hope to focus more on the practical and applying side of the accounting department” (U2/3)

“All subjects have a textbook, but students want a PowerPoint note for the subject and this is wrong” (U3/2)

“So the other subject in which the female students depend on slides that are given to them. So the female students are asking that you give them slides like the rest” (U3/3)

Theme CATP 8. Assessment of Teaching Methods

• CATP 8.1 Traditional Teaching Advantages

OPPOSITE IDEA

“because our university is looking for accreditation, this leds us to cancel Mid1, Mid2 and final exams plus quizzes. Then replace them with case studies, research, presentations, and professional practitioners who come for giving some courses, there are also Workshops” (U5/0)

“female educators were based on the traditional method, but now we are walking the steps of education through PowerPoint” (U1/4)

“I am explaining the curriculum by using PowerPoint and Excel, and I use Excel for the assignments” (U2/1)

“we will use the power point presentations and present it to the students, and then we solve exercises” (U4/1)

“There is an evolution in the issue of using technology in teaching methods and the tools used in the explanation, such as smart boards, projectors and presentations” (U7/0)

“As for our teaching methods based on slide show, I am currently using slides, especially in subjects that have a large theoretical part, such as financial accounting or management accounting, and these slides save lecture time as well” (U7/2)

“We also use technology, as we use PowerPoint to explain and display courses” (U7/3)

“This is the traditional way but really, we cannot teach without it but we would like to increase the student’s engagement. When a person talks, the information received will not be 100% because the application is the thing that matters with professional bodies. We don’t want the students to memorize not only for the exam and it’s over, because accounting does not depend on memorization, in accounting the student has to understand what the debtor is and what the creditor is, how to deal or confront the labor market” (U1/1)

“The idea when presenting information is not only memorization, but understanding and measuring it and researching behind it, we tell female students that they have to learn and not memorize and repeat only so the student has to learn from the information and follow the method and research and apply on her own because there is nothing that will be repeated in the world, not even in the test” (U4/10)

They think that using technology and projector for example is a considered a development in education but it is not really like that, for example, when turning the lights off and reading from the slides on the blackboard this cause for relaxing, inactivity and sleep and not engagement and motivation. The lecturer doesn’t use the projector in her explanation, she just writes the headlines using her hand and draws a mental map to attract the attention of the students. The lecturer sees that using the slide show and changing the images by just one click is not considered a linking and interaction. She sees that the use of technology is important and good but not in every subject especially the mathematical subjects that requires solution on the black board. From the lecturer point of view in order for the linking and interact with the students to occur, we should host someone who works in this field in reality to convey the method and the vision of the work more realistically” (U1/1)

“The lecturer attracts their senses and writes exercises where she does not write silently but also reads what he writes , and this attracts the student who likes to write , the student who likes to listen during the demonstration lectures and the student who likes to follow up on the solution steps visually , since this method operates their senses so that they can interact and understand the exercises and lectures well and thus the percentage of information reaching the students up to 60% and the rest is done by studying , at-home revision and solving more math problems” (U1/1)

“As for the teaching methods , the traditional method of not active learning is still used , which is the professor explains to students and students listening and solving assignment only” (U1/2)

“the first thing we have is to use the traditional method, which is for the professor to explain and so on. Therefore, all lecturers are obligated to write the exercises on the board and do its solution with the students. It is the student’s right if the professor writes any exercise to solve it with the students in a detailed way, so that it starts from the first step until the end” (U1/4)

“some professors don’t prefer using traditional methods in lectures although they are favoured by the students, so at the end of each semester the professor asks the students about what they liked in it and most of them prefer traditional methods due to the easiness of getting information in it” (U5/3)

“Our teaching methods are through the lecture and also the Deanship of Education indicated to us teaching some courses through Blackboard, but our department refused that because accounting needs to interact directly with the student because most of them are quantitative methods” (U7/3)

• CATP 8.2 Modern Teaching Barriers

“duties are ONLINE There is not much difference. The most important thing is for the female student to upload the assignment to BLACKBOARD while I receive it. It is easy to correct via BLACKBOARD and there is also a feature that I can make comments on each paragraph and this thing is comfortable for students even though it is very tiring for me as a professor” (U4/12)

“The university was insisting that education be transferred to distance education, but the response from us was that it is not the ideal way in some subjects and also it is not suitable for communicating information or developing students’ skills in some subjects” (U4/0)

“There are deficiencies in the use of Excel in the courses that being taught, although it is considered one of the traditional methods, because we are in the age of technology we are supposed to have a mix, and for this to happen there must be development for the courses of the faculty members first, as the faculty members performance that will be reflected in the performance of female students, so what faculty members will learn will determine how they are taught students, due to you are a faculty member who is obligated to keep pace with the changes, and learn without being a purely academic goal, they must search for what the labor market needs and develop themselves in it” (U5/5)

“As for what happens in the lecture, this depends on each professor and I do what the students need and what I saw has a great impact on them is the groups. In order to confirm the information, I do in the next lecture a review in the form of a question and I tell them to form groups of 5 students, which is I noticed that one of the students, so that her colleagues could answer, would do the explanation to them, and I noticed that they understood more from each other and when they handed over the paper, for example, I found a student telling her classmates that you had to do it in such a way that they understood them from some of them due to their simple expressions, their easy way of speaking and their different analogies” (U7/6)

“regarding the students. at first, they demanded to get the information directly and effortlessly but soon they realized that latter techniques are the best and they needed them” (U5/3)

“Accounting students do not depend on themselves in searching and to coming up with the source of information” (U1/2)

“Student’s ability to think critically is still weak and this may be an output or problems of general education” (U5/5)

• CATP 8.3 Classroom Capacity

“The evaluation is only through group participations, and we try as much as possible to memorize the students’ names because we have a problem of overcrowding and a large number, and the problem is not that the number of female students is large as much as the distribution in the divisions is unfair, as we have a problem that the college administration puts the names of the female professors before the term beginning and then the female students make a choice between professors. And imagine that in the services system there are Maximum 50 students, and we see that the department reaches above the Maximum, and why then do we put Maximum and the actual system allows more than 50. What happens at that time is that the female students are crowded into one of the divisions and become other female professors who do not have much to work on, even though the other female professor may be better and more competent, but the female students of course have another view of the subject and they make the selection on the basis of which facilitates the preparation and so on and it is not a condition that this is better than this one scientifically. But in other colleges at the university, the situation is different. For an example of this, in the College of Fundamentals of Religion, but the administration does not present the names of the female professors before the beginning of the semester and it becomes in balance. So, now I as professor want to adjust the number of students distributed because I have twice the number of students in the department in the other female professor, and this is very fatal and fatigue, and of course it affects my performance, and on the basis of this I stopped the quizzes, and I want to change that but college administration told me that It is necessary to change from the beginning and not during the semester, and this explicitly affects my performance, but I do as much as possible I try, for example, as I mentioned previously, I stopped the quizzes and I evaluate on the basis of the performance of groups and assignments, as where when I receive the assignments from the female students, I distribute assignments to female students and make each female student do the correction to the other and every female student does the assignment in front of the students. Of course, this is in addition to the first semester, the second semester, and the Final exam, with 50 marks” (U1/3)

“Also, we suffer from the problem of the number of female students; it was nearly reach 45 students. Teaching the advanced accounting course is very stressful, so we hope that the number of female students in the class will be about 20 or 25 students because the quality of the outputs, education and teaching all depend on the number. As professors cannot control forty-five students and of course they must be focused with them in order to work together, but unfortunately we cannot control the rate of admission because it is an order issued by the Deanship and we hope that we will all be able to teach in English without the presence of barriers or problems and in general we are thought these are our problems Currently” (U5/0)

“However, the higher engagement levels are in class the better the result is, and in order to increase student engagement professors use the points method or give examples from the local business market.In the subject of business skills, the subjects are quite connected with society and current events which increased student engagement, also there is the participation method which positively affects student engagement but it’s hard to use because of the difficulty of detecting participation in classes with more than thirty students” (U5/3)

“It is also possible to reduce the numbers within the divisions so that a faculty member can master and perform his duty perfectly” (U6/1)

“I do not like to read from the slides only. I read the main points and then explain and give examples. Most students prefer just to study what in slides ” (U6/4)

CATP 8.3 COVID-19 Impact

“But the problem facing us in this period is the remote exams, and we are obliged to them, but we do not like them. we hope that things return to their normal course, then it is possible to say that it will be in a part of distance learning and so on, but as for the tests, they will not be normal” (U1/0)

How is the discussion method done?

I will talk about my discussion which was on the topic of Corona and its impact on the economy and on prices. So I made female students read and search and even the answers that did not contain any numbers and analysis I rejected. And I got good, great answers. So is a discussion like a room to chat and everyone can put their opinion into the discussion? Yes, it’s. Where I download a question and it is answered by the female students, and it is not a requirement that everyone be active to answer the question. The system is very nice as it lets you evaluate. The system provides a score of evaluation on the discussion, which I as a female professor put, for example, let it be 5, so when the student replies, it evaluates it automatically. As in this way the time will be saved a lot. And because female professors, in fact, tired of correcting a lot, and this is because studying in English and writing for female students is bad. The student needs to write too. So it is possible to rely on the program in quiz” (U2/1)

“But due to the corona crisis these days, the university asked us as faculty members to put 20 marks on the final exam, and the marks were distributed on different assignments

What are the different assignments assigned to the 20 marks?

The assignments varied between research, a research presentation and summaries of some parts of the subject that we were unable to cover. We had forums in which the Corona crisis and its impact on companies and the economy were discussed in the country. In addition to solving exercises for each chapter after completing it” (U3/3)

“As for the automated evaluation methods, they are different now. Previously, the quarterly work was the basis for evaluation. Now it’s eighty percent according to the ministry’s decision. Of course, the assignment will not be increased, but it will be, for example, a student who used 60% of the time, but he will use a certain formula in order for the percentage to become 80%. And the final exam of 20 degrees” (U4/0)

“I was hoping to use blended learning, and now that happened to the blackboard system due to Covid-19” (U2/5)

“But this experience may lead to 50% or 60% of the skills that were based on face-to-face explanation, so it may be useful and successful at the present time and all colleagues are now turning to distance education” (U4/0)

“an experience of distance learning is very nice. As the lectures were wonderful, the attendance was complete, and there was a great interaction. The topic was very useful to me and to students as well” (U3/1)

“on face to face classes female students used to feel lazy in attending, but now it has become easier, as the female student can attend from her room. The second thing is to hand over the assignments now, female students rarely fail to deliver, unlike what was in the lectures at the university and until I do not know a reason for that, perhaps because it unites plenty of time to solve the assignment as we give them two days to solve it or maybe at the time of quarantine, female students have free time Larger” (U3/1)

“The positives lie in the student obtaining the scientific subject at any time suit for him” (U6/3)

“And e-learning also has communication, but it is not that way as in the traditional lecture, where I cannot see the expressions of the students” (U6/3)

“One of the negatives is that communication between the student and the faculty member is not strong enough. I cannot see the expressions of the students. This is because in the traditional lecture, I can communicate with students during the explanation directly and discuss certain points directly, but this matter is not possible for us as faculty members in distance learning” (U6/3)

Themes from SOCPA Members Group

Information Set: Current Accounting Teaching Practices CATP

1. Theme CATP 1. Reasons of gap

CATP 1. 1. Poor Updating Curriculum

Some universities suffer from the slowness in the process of updating the accounting curricula, which made SOCPA intervene to provide some suggestions:

“SOCPA came 3 years ago when it adopted the transformation project to international standards, and it addressed the universities to prepare for this stage. The SOCPA was afraid of a slow pace in the application of the transfer in universities and a gap in reality, so it took an initiative” (P/1)

The slowness in keeping pace with changes in accounting science in Saudi universities is one of the most important points of the Saudi accounting education gap:

“Some Saudi universities still have not applied international standards, and this slow pace is one of the challenges facing the educational accounting processs.” (P/1)

An example confirms the lack of updating the curricula in a way that keeps pace with the changes that teach international accounting standards:

“Here comes the role of universities, the college council and the department council to prepare the department’s study plan, which varies from university to university, and this difference may be in the curriculum itself or the books that are taught and until now there are universities that teach according to American standards and we have been teaching international standards for 4 years. So there is a problem in not developing the curriculum and not teaching modern books.” (P/2)

CATP 1. 2. Language

Accounting students understand accounting very well in Arabic, because their English level does not enable them to understand accounting strongly:

The SOCPA believes that the accounting education we have here is better than the accounting education in neighboring countries, except for one thing only, which is education in the English language, as most companies here deal in the English language and the question remains: Do we teach students in Arabic or in English – In fact, I support education in the Arabic language, as we teach them in science, and for example a person who does not know English 100% and then studies accounting in English so he will not be able to know English or accounting – The English language is a language of communication and not a language of science, and whoever needs to learn a science must learn it in his mother tongue, although there are some who say that the English language is the basis and that companies use it in most everything. This is correct. Yes, but it does not mean not to intensify and develop the language. English in several other subjects while maintaining accounting in Arabic – Whenever we have a generation that speaks and understands the English language as well as the Arabic language, there is no objection to using it, but currently no 90% of the people do not know the desired English language. (P/2)

Accounting faculty members cannot teach accounting in depth in English because the level of students in English does not allow this depth:

When a faculty member is forced to teach in English, he says, I have to simplify the curriculum and reduce it because students do not understand or absorb what he says and depend on translation

– The faculty member says that I was troubled by the simplification of the curriculum in order for the students to understand and succeed, but this violated the accounting and this is the major goal

– So, the transfer to Arabic was done again because the first batch that graduated did not understand accounting and could not speak the English language, so the main goal was to teach and enable the accounting in any language, the important thing for the student to understand accounting and then develop other skills

Language is also a skill that he can acquire after college

– Therefore, I do not support teaching in the English language unless the student comes with a general education qualification

– And I taught accounting subject and it had some English terms but they were even difficult to pronounce so I was all I do is pronounce it and translate it and make them repeat it and then I put it in Quiz the next week

– This system used to apply to the subject of accounting terminology, so I used to make them repeat the words and record them several times.

– Everyone wants development and progress, but with this level it will not work. Maybe this will happen after 5 or 6 years of intensifying the language, preparing and teaching it. Then it may be possible to teach in English. (P/1)

The outputs of the accounting department in English are very weak because the students did not understand accounting well:

– When I became a department head, the plan was prepared in the English language, and the files were identified and uploaded, but we discussed and transferred to the Arabic language because general education is very bad in terms of the English language where the student graduates and does not have any alphabets for the English language, but teaching the student a semester or two in the English language will not make him good in it

– Some universities have switched to the English language, which was a good idea as I want the student to graduate and he is qualified for the labor market, but from the experience of the former and complaints that came that students are graduating and it is assumed that they studied in English, but they are still not good. (P/1)

The problem is not teaching accounting in English, but the problem is that students are not qualified in English yet:

– Whenever we have a generation that speaks and understands the English language as well as the Arabic language, there is no objection to using it, but currently no. (P/2)

CATP 1. 3. Poor Educational Planning

The cooperative training program is not fully prepared to serve the purpose of giving accounting students an opportunity to share what is really happening in the professional sector:

First, the absence of the facility in which the training is conducted Lack of proper follow-up – There is no curriculum for the trainer that clarifies his role and what he must do in order to teach the students. For example, someone who has an accountancy office and 20 students came to train for him on what he will train them? – And the student personally does not know what he will do except to sit and drink tea and coffee, and then they give him papers to collect and subtract only because this is the common idea about accounting So I say that we have a problem with education, so the SOCPA tried to intervene, but some universities and colleagues objected and said you have no right to interfere (P/2)

The authority provided a program to train accounting students that serves both the academic and professional parties, but it has not been followed by the academic bodies:

SOCPA created a program and called it Practical Training, whereby the SOCPA becomes the platform for practical training, where the university sends students who we want to train and do our training in the SOCPA on a curriculum that has been developed in advance and takes 3 to four months to train in the first and second week of our In the SOCPA on fellowship exams, and then they are sent to the accounting office to be trained in the first and second week on auditing and advice, and so on. (P/2)

Some accounting faculty believe that their mission is to teach only and not to qualify for the professional sector:

And also one of the things that I hope is for the connection to the private sector, as I remember that a discussion happened between me and a faculty member about our mission is to qualify students for the job market, or is our mission limited only to education

– And some academics say our mission is limited to education only, and the labor market demands that they be qualified for work

So, from my point of view, if a faculty member thinks only that his mission is limited to education only, and then he does not think about the student’s future after graduation at all.

– From my point of view, the academic role extends even after graduation, and also many foreign universities have a unit dedicated to graduates to know where they went and where to employ and follow up with them after graduation and this is something we do not have here. (P/1)

Education outputs, which are the inputs of the professional sector, suffer from the inability to prepare these graduates, and this in turn opposes the Saudi government’s plan to replace non-Saudi accountants with Saudis to achieve the goals of Vision 2030:

– Learning outcomes are considered as inputs for employers and the private sector, and these entities complain about the outputs of the accounting departments, and this of course causes problems in the process of resettlement and replacement process, and even when there are initiatives from the Ministry of Education, the private sector used to complain about the outputs, where they say students are graduates who are not qualified to work, and we are forced to pay high costs for them, so you should develop them more and work to qualify them (P/1)

Reliance on theoretical education and the large number of accounting students are two reasons for weak accounting outputs:

– Our outputs are weak because the environment in which the student studies is fundamentally invalid, as the number of students is 70 students

Education is theoretical, not practical (P/2)

The opening of emerging universities that study accounting with the absence of qualified faculty members, a reason for the poor accounting output:

– Therefore, increasing universities while not planning to increase the number of faculty members. All this has an impact on the quality of outputs. (P/2)

Another example of poor output due to emerging universities and the lack of a qualified accounting academic:

Also, there are many emerging universities that face a problem in keeping up, as we find most of the faculty members are not of high academic levels, as we find that most of the teaching staff are lecturers and the number of faculty members is very limited and often they are also non-Saudis, and this point I want to refer to that the system The contract varies from Saudi to non-Saudi, as everyone knows that non-Saudis are contracted according to an annual contract, and there is also a system of offers and certain tasks are specified for them and often they are also not offered any positions such as the position of the head of the department or a position in the college so his task is limited to teaching so he has no ambition to revive the department. (CPA)/1)

CATP 1. 4. Relationship with Universities

Accounting academics object to the initiatives presented by SOCPA on the pretext that SOCPA is a professional body and has nothing to do with accounting education:

the SOCPA tried to intervene, but some universities and colleagues objected and said you have no right to interfere (P/2)

Another example of the accounting academic’s objection to SOCPA’s initiatives:

The issue was presented to the Executive Committee, and one of the faculty members was present and said this is not your business (P/2)

Another example of the accounting academic’s objection to SOCPA’s initiatives:

The issue was thought about and raised, but it did not come to light due to rejection, because they say you are the body of chartered accountants and you have no relationship (P/2)

It seems that the relationship between the academic side and SOCPA is not good:

– Even the issue of translation was met with rejection and objection, and they said, “Do not interfere. We will translate 8 books and they did not translate any book or perhaps they translated a book or two. I don’t know (P/2)

The majority of SOCPA’s employees are from accounting academic background and are well aware of the challenges of the academic aspect:

– At the beginning, I want to say that I was working as a department head at the university and all of the body’s members were academics, so I say that we are all graduates from the academic reality and we know challenges for academics (P/1)

There is cooperation between academics and SOCPA, but academics do not welcome the initiatives of SOCPA:

Are your relations with other universities a good relationship or the opposite? All faculty members are members of the SOCPA Council. All the committees of the SOCPA have faculty members. And the tests are carried out by a number of university doctors. (P/2)

All members of SOCPA and those in charge of the accounting profession are academics and they are well aware of the challenges of accounting education in Saudi Arabia. Despite this, the academics still consider SOCPA’s initiatives as interference in the academic work and that SOCPA understands only the professional aspect.:

In the sense that all those in charge of the profession, most of them a university professor, and we are the best who know what is happening now in universities, and we also know which universities are distinguished in their tests and what universities need to be developed. (P/2)

2. Theme CATP 2. SOCPA’s Initiatives

CATP 2. 1. Books Translation

SOCPA has taken the initiative to translate the newest accounting textbooks to ensure that accounting outputs keep pace with accounting developments in Saudi Arabia and the world:

When we searched for updated Arabic textbooks, we found that the book did not suit or fit international standards and most of them were old Therefore, SOCPA adopted the translation of major books in financial accounting and intermediate accounting 2 – When the issue of translating books was raised, an unnatural attack occurred from the academy, and they said this is not your specialty, and we will not teach these books in universities and we will translate books. – But SOCPA did not allow this, and to this day, no book has been translated or written by academics related to Saudi standards because if we had waited for them, we would not have reached here now. – Therefore, the SOCPA took care of the translation and its expenses and did not ask anything from the universities, and it cost us very large sums, reaching 200 thousand for a book, but the translation was done anyway. It is assumed that upon completion or end of the translation, these books will be sent to the department heads, and the response was supposed to come with thank to the accountant’s authority, but what happened was the opposite. They refused the books and said we will translate and do not impose your books on us, but those books were Canadian and they are taught in the best universities and we only translate it with what it contains – So we approached them through the Minister of Education, and the Minister of Commerce sent a letter to the Minister of Education in which he said that the Commission has translated these books and we ask universities to receive them and benefit from them – I was at the time head of the department and the letter reached me by looking at these books and teaching them, so we approved all the books and approved them all by Umm Al-Qura University, but we find on this day some universities did not adopt them I repeat that the goal of the accounting profession must be above all disputes (P/1)

SOCPA tried to present its initiatives to universities to help them in the process of translating accounting textbooks:

And there were other attempts by SOCPA to help universities that face challenges, as one of the faculty members might need to translate a book and need support. Why not let the SOCPA help them? (P/1)

SOCPA encouraged everyone to participate in translation to share in success and benefit:

The other thing that I would like to refer to is the curriculum. There is no new curriculum. The Commission has translated 8 books on accounting standards, principles, intermediate 2, auditing standards and cost accounting as well, and the Commission always develops books and adds everything that emerges from the standards.

– These books have been prepared by people who teach these books in Canada, and these books such as American, Australian and Canadian are well prepared and are reviewed and supervised by authors and directors unlike the books we have here.

Therefore, we were keen to develop and encourage translation work

How is the encouragement done?

– We encourage the translation of books and not authoring them because these books were written by former people and have been studied many times so they have been modified when any error appears

– Translation is the basis of knowledge, and whoever translates can authoring. For example, the Islamic renaissance began with translation. So we have to encourage young people to translate so that they can authoring later, because writing is an industry, an art, and a talent, and not every doctor can write.

– Every doctor must know how to author, how to write the chapter, how to write the information, and how to write the question that measures the information

– And also to learn how to set goals that must be reached after learning a chapter and these things we miss in our textbooks and I did not see them in Saudi writing. Maybe you just saw it in elementary or middle books

– When we tried to encourage translation in order to shift or change to international standards because the market needs people who understand international accounting standards, and this is what we call the adapting of the profession market with education

– So we told the universities, don’t teach with people who only know the old Saudi standards, but teach them the new standards, and these books are exist and ready, as some accepted it and others did not accept it because they wanted to teach from their own books or their notebook that they sell in bookstores.

– So we sought the help of the Minister of Education, but the Minister did not oblige universities to do so, so he said, “Benefit from the books.”

So I expect that the groups whose students studied the new books will have better students than those who did not study the new books and this is because the students have a background of the new updates. (P/2)

CATP 2. .2 Educational Support

SOCPA has proposed scholarships that include training and test fees for the good students from each university:

Where we talked about how learning is linked to a profession – The proposal was for a training grant of 200 students for your best students, and this scholarship is complete with training and testing and it costs 29,000 thousand riyals. We award 5 scholarships to A university annually (P/2)

3. Theme CATP 3. Culture & Other Factors

CATP 3.1. Vision 2030

The accounting profession in Saudi Arabia has become affected by Vision 2030. The vision aims to build a good accountant who meets the needs of the profession:

To achieve Vision 2030, we need to build good professional accountanst, and students have been highly qualified. This is supposed to be everyone’s goal. We hope that the accounting profession will compete with all professions because until now some people consider accounting as Cashier So we created the idea of the forum in order to introduce people to the accounting profession and its role. (P/1)

Vision 2030 focuses on the accounting profession to achieve the economic development of the country through the integrity of the financial statements prepared by these accountants:

If we mention accounting in the vision 2030, then it is an economic goal and the economy will not develop unless there are highly reliable financial statements and there is transparency in them in order to enable economists to rely on these statements and take appropriate decisions.

CATP 3.2. Private Universities

Private universities are quick to keep pace with the changes in the science and profession of accounting:

If we look at the differences between public universities and private universities, we will find that private universities quickly adapt to changes, perhaps due to the bureaucracy or the capacity available to them. (P/1)

The speed of response of private universities to change in the science and profession of accounting compared to public universities:

As an example of a private university, when any new standard is applied, they directly bring in an expert to teach students and faculty members about this standard, and this of course is directly reflected in the curriculum.

– On the other hand, in public universities, the standard will be published in 2019, which will be taught in 2021 or perhaps 2022

What do you think is the reason for this?

– The government work is slow and also less accountability. For example in private universities, for example, if we look, we will always find faculty members in their offices and we find that there is accountability for faculty members and they are evaluated at the end of the year and this does not exist in government reality

– Through my experience as a department head, in fact I was struggling with the faculty members in order to get them to apply the descriptions in the department because we change them, and when I tell them that I find faculty members apply the old description and since I am a department head I do not have enough powers to hold them accountable

– So there are some problems in terms of powers and accountability, so this depends on the diligence of the faculty member because sometimes we find a diligent member and another member that is not like this, and this in turn reflects on the student.

– As for the private sector, we find the department, including the president, being held accountable for everything, so we find them walking on the same line, and this was one of the challenges. (P/1)

4. Theme CATP 4. Gender Issues

Female accounting students are making more progress than males:

 In fact, I have a bias here on women because I think they have many characteristics that differ from men – I taught male and female students and I taught them the same subject, and almost everyone was at the same level and I used to teach them in the master’s degree. I had two divisions, and most of these students were over the age of 27, and they were also employed and qualified, and they did not differ in features much, but the difference in the level was very large, as all the female students that I had had graduated with distinction, and I had an average of approximately 95 degrees. As for the male students, only 3 were obtained distinction from them. Perhaps the difference is very clear in terms of commitment and ambition – I noticed when I asked male students why they are studying this course, but I did not find a clear answer – As for the female students, they had goals and some of them linked this goal to fellowship and even at the level of work, we find women are more accurate and committed than men. As when I need a female colleague, I always find them in their office. As for men, I often do not find them, so I see that women are more accurate, love and passionate about work, and I do not know what is the reason behind this, but I feel that women love work more than men and sacred it (P/1)

There are many challenges facing the female accountant in the professional sector. This makes the demand for female accountants may differ from that of male accountants in the professional sector. Thus, this affects the claims of the female accounting professional sector, which are completely different from those of the male:

In fact, I see that women face some obstacles in accounting labor market, partly related to culture

– Where some female graduates or their families want a private work environment, but will the other party provide this or not?

– So I see that this is a big limit in the process of employing women, as one of their simplest rights is to work in an environment suitable for them. And if we look at the bodies in which women offer work, we will find, for example, 20% are the ones who provide women with the appropriate environment for them, and therefore they are part of that percentage, and if they are not accepted, the rate of acceptance of another job will decrease

– Sometimes the opposite happens, the environment is all women only, but the woman does not like that environment and prefers to work outside it for several reasons. You may say that this environment will not have many achievements or there will be many problems.

– And this happened when we did a training course for women; some of them came and said, why not, I do not attend that session with this doctor?

As for work, sometimes the employer thinks that employing women will limit achievements and perform tasks as required

– And for example the accounting office’s when they are asked why they do not employ female accountants, they say we employ them, but sometimes they have to meet clients, some of them refuse and some of them do not. And when the interview takes place, the place is not suitable for her, as all the bathrooms are for men or the whole section is men. Then she come and feels alone between them

– This is also one of the reasons, and I say it is due to culture

– Also, I think that the employer thinks that the woman may be more expensive or cost, especially if the woman is married, she may become pregnant and stop working for two months, for example, so the business owner might think about choosing a man and not a woman. (P/1)

Another example of the demand for female accountants in the professional sector:

Therefore, I say that some bodies see that women increase their costs (P/1)

No matter how different the demand for female accountants, it still depends on the accounting professional performance:

So if cultural barriers limit the employment of a girl to some extent, it will surely limit her choice of department. But I see that in the past five years, women are entering the labor market with force, especially in accounting, and the small and large accounting offices have women and even the Big 4, we find them in abundance. So I see that the woman is gradually proving her existence (P/1)

Themes from NCAAA Members Group

Information Set: Current Accounting Teaching Practices CATP

1. Theme CATP 1. Intended Learning Outcomes ILOs

CATP 1. 1. Students’ Assessment

The accounting academic must link the student’s assessment with learning outcomes in order to ensure that the accounting student obtains the skills required later in the professional sector:

The faculty member has to know what assessment methods he uses and he must make sure that through them the learning outcome that has been set is at the level of the course and has been achieved Has the student acquired the skills that he is supposed to acquire and what is his level of acquisition of those skills. (A/2)

Currently, the distribution of marks depends on the university system:

First, regarding the distribution of grades, this matter is governed by internal rules for each university. (A/2)

The distribution of grades is determined by the university administration, and this matter has nothing to do with academic accreditation, but the faculty member is committed to diversifying and achieving learning outcomes:

So I understand from this talk that universities have freedom to amend or change their evaluation of their students? Of course. Because what I noticed from the interviews is that the vast majority are still using the traditional method of evaluation, which is 90 degrees for exams, or sometimes they are 80 degrees. This is because universities restrict them, but now universities are open without restriction. Even the university administration does not make an obligation regarding the division of degrees. Previously, the degrees were 80 for the final exam and 20 for the work of the year. Now there are universities that follow the 60-40 distribution, and some universities 50-50. (A/1)

Another example of the need for diversification in assessment:

But there are several methods within the test, such as the multiple-choice question, which is a valid question to measure the student’s comprehension ability – But if we want to measure the student’s ability to analyze and conclude or deduce, the multiple choice method will not work. An essay question or case study may be useful for this type. (A/2)

CATP 1. 2. Quality of Outputs

The quality of the outputs is measured through their relationship to the learning outcomes, which are previously developed for each course separately:

Among the sub-standards is the existence of a standard for evaluating students’ performance, and this standard focuses on that the assessment methods are related to the learning outcomes, that they are suitable for the learning outcome to be measured, that there is a diversity in it, and that the judgment on the student’s acquisition of his skills is not based on one source only in the evaluation methods. – Also, I want to point out that the National Qualifications Framework has identified 3 areas of learning outcomes Field of knowledge And the field of cognitive skills Ability to analyze, deduce, make judgments, solve problems, values, tendencies, trends, and soft Skills – Accreditation standards say that there must be a link between the evaluation method and the learning outcome because what may be used to measure knowledge may not be suitable for measuring cognitive skill or communication skills. (A/2)

It seems that the test is the only means of evaluation, but in fact there are multiple methods of evaluation within the test to ensure the quality of the outputs:

In the assessment processes, we must make sure that the tests that are set for students actually measure what has been set to measure and that they are suitable for measuring the learning outcome. So exam is the only method of evaluation? But there are several methods within the test, such as the multiple-choice question, which is a valid question to measure the student’s comprehension ability. But if we want to measure the student’s ability to analyze and conclude or deduce, the multiple-choice method will not work. An essay question or case study may be useful for this type. (A/2)

The main objective of academic accreditation is the quality of the outputs and ensuring that they meet the requirements of the filed:

If we look at the goal of the quality assurance and academic accreditation system in Saudi higher education institutions and their programs, we find that the main goal is to support and enhance academic programs and the quality of their outputs. From this standpoint, the NCAAA has set the academic accreditation system and one of its pillars is the program accreditation standards and these standards deal with the various program activities as they deal with the program in various aspects of work, in terms of program messages and objectives, in terms of institutional resources available for the program, in terms of program management, in terms of quality management and in terms of the educational process and in terms of the aspect of learning and education. (A/2)

In order to verify the quality of the outputs, we need evidence and evidence that proves the application of these tools:

There is another factor, which is the focus on the quality of the outputs, as we ask the workers on the program to provide evidence and proofs that indicates the quality of the learning outcomes, and this can be obtained directly or indirectly. One of the most important indicators of the quality of the program’s outcomes is the performance of graduate students in professional exams and their level of obtaining professional licenses. (A/2)

All subjects must have a description in order to be compared with them after the end of the course. This description varies according to the objectives of each course separately:

With regard to the commission, we say that each course must have a description that deals with the learning outcomes that the student will acquire after studying this course. (A/2)

The language of the program depends on the objectives of the program:

The language depends on the vision of program. (A/1)

In this standard, why this subject is taught and what knowledge, values and skills are required from it in order to measure it at the end of the semester:

learning and teaching standard, which is the third standard of the developed standards – As this standard deals with the curriculum in terms of its components, novelty, comprehensiveness, and the balance between its various components – It also deals with the mechanism of the existing system within the university in terms of building and developing the study plan for the program – The standards in this program are based on a focus on the necessity of the need for the program, and this need may be cultural or economic, and this anchor is important and its importance is in judging the quality of the program. – When building any accounting educational program or otherwise, those in charge of the program must take into account the need for the program – That they specify the learning outcomes of the program – That they specify what knowledge, values and skills the student will acquire after graduating from the program – These outputs must take into account first the academic standards, which in turn determine the minimum level of knowledge that an accounting graduate must acquire. – And it must also take into account the professional standards, which specify the minimum skills that a graduate of accounting must acquire, and these standards are set by the Saudi Accountants Association and this body has the minimum skills that must be met by the graduate The professional license is granted in the light of its evaluation of these skills that the graduate is supposed to have Therefore, this point must be taken into consideration in terms of program design and construction – With this, there will be consideration of the needs and requirements of the labor market – And then the study plan must be built in light of the outputs and other professional specified by the program What are the experiences, and what are the different educational activities that can be provided to students to achieve those outcomes Then the program must choose the teaching strategies that can be used and help achieve those outputs. (A/2)

Another example:

That they specify what knowledge, values and skills the student will acquire after graduating from the program. (A/2)

Specific academic standards mean the values, skills, and knowledge desired to be obtained from this subject:

These outputs must take into account first the academic standards, which in turn determine the minimum level of knowledge that an accounting graduate must acquire. (A/2)

Not only assessment methods, but also teaching methods for each subject, must be determined so that it can be measured later:

Then the program must choose the teaching strategies that can be used and help achieve those outputs. (A/2)

Another example:

The standards in this program are based on a focus on the necessity of the need for the program, and this need may be cultural or economic, and this anchor is important and its importance is in judging the quality of the program. (A/2)

The agreement between NCAAA and SOCPA emerged due to the need to define professional standards for the accounting program:

And it must also take into account the professional standards, which specify the minimum skills that a graduate of accounting must acquire, and these standards are set by the SOCPA and this body has the minimum skills that must be met by the graduate. The professional license is granted in the light of its evaluation of these skills that the graduate is supposed to have. (A/2)

Each faculty member must make an effort to extract the strategies that the course aims to achieve in order to reach the specific learning outcomes:

First, it is determined by those in charge of the program and that there is a clear teaching philosophy within the program, and this philosophy must be directed to faculty members at the course level. – Then, in light of the description, each faculty member must define the strategies that he will use in his course and help him in extracting the learning outcome at the course level, which in turn helps to achieve the learning outcome at the program level. (A/2)

2. Theme CATP 2. Agreement with SOCPA

NCAAA emphasizes the quality of learning outcomes through the achievement of professional standards, hence the point of agreement between NCAAA and SOCPA:

One of the most important indicators of the quality of the program’s outcomes is the performance of graduate students in professional exams and their level of obtaining professional licenses – From this point the partnership between the NCAAA and the SOCPA happened, and they have a great role in determining the professional standards and skills that the graduate must acquire, and they also have a judgment on the quality of the program outputs. – They also have indicators, information and data that can be used in judging the quality of program outputs – This pillar is important and essential and takes a great deal of weight in terms of academic accreditation at the program level. (A/2)

Building professional standards for the accounting program is one of the priorities of this agreement, and then providing advice and training to participate in the academic accreditation process:

The aim of this agreement is to have a partnership between the two parties that can be said to be participation in building professional standards in the field of accounting. Participate in building evaluation and accreditation processes carried out by the center. To what extent participation? Participation is in the audit teams that visit academic programs and evaluate them, as well as that there are people in them who represent academics and other people who represent professionals from accounting bodies, and each of them has a role in judging the quality of the outputs and the quality of the program. As well as cooperation regarding the exchange of data and information that can be used in judging the quality of programs, their development and improvement. (A/2)

3. Theme CATP 3. Accreditation Processes

CATP 3. 1. NCAAA Visiting

Teaching methods are one of the basics of assessment in order to obtain academic accreditation:

Accreditation passes through several stages, and among those stages is the remote access to the accreditation documents and the method of teaching within the program. (A/1)

There is a short visit before the official visit for guidance and counseling:

The NCAAA is making a verification visit before accreditation, and this is a mini-visit in which the program is directed and attention to new teaching methods that suit the outputs. (A/1)

The faculty member must provide some details about each subject in order to facilitate the provision of advice and advice in an explanatory manner:

Among the procedures we have the report of the course end of each chapter, which is a requirement that faculty member must do even if it is not among the quality and accreditation work. Where each faculty member is supposed to know how many people failed, how many succeeded, and which questions were more difficult for students. (A/1)

Example of a problem:

Also, some educators face a problem in using the computer, and all these matters are taken care of even before the accreditation visit. (A/1)

All these results are subject to change according to developments in each program:

And even educational outcomes are reformulated because there are important outputs such as developing soft skills, and many programs now guarantee them. (A/1)

The authority offers many courses to spread the culture of quality among its members:

The training department at the NCAAA used to visit universities and make courses for all quality departments in all aspects of quality, including formulating learning outcomes and the method for measuring learning outcomes. Until recently, these courses were in place, and registration in them was done through a nomination from the university or through a personal one. (A/1)

The study plan and learning outcomes are continuously developed:

It also deals with the mechanism of the existing system within the university in terms of building and developing the study plan for the program. And then the study plan must be built in light of the outputs and other professional specified by the program. (A/2)

CATP 3. 2. Accreditation Difficulties

Increasing work on members and the large number of files may be an obstacle to achieving quality:

In fact, the quality work is difficult, and the centre and the commission tried to reduce the burden on faculty members and reduce the models required of them. Quality is like a lecturer who starts teaching a new course, but when he teaches it again, he finds it easier, and the quality is as well. (A/1)

CATP 3. 3. Department Development

Updates are continuing to make it easier for members:

We are in the center and the commission is now carrying out an update to create an electronic system. (A/1)

The periodic update is done to suit the needs of each program separately:

We are talking about the modernization and development that takes place within the subject because development has become very strong, especially in a science such as accounting science. Even at the level of Saudi Arabia, radical changes have occurred during the past two years. – Such as the principle of merit (claiming), now in a complete transformation in Saudi governmental accounting, and this change requires the curricula to keep pace with reality So, what is the benefit of teaching female students the critical principle when in fact they have come to follow the principle of merit? – As it mentioned earlier, the visit includes specialists, and these specialists have experience in quality and field It is specialists in the field who can judge that the program keeps pace with the recent developments in the field – Therefore, the specialized audit team is the one who can judge the update so that it is possible to request an update of the program plan or add a course that does not exist – During the audit process, samples are taken from the courses and are audited in detail until the references in them are audited. (A/1)

4. Theme CATP 4. Teaching Practices Accreditation Requirements

CATP 4. 1. Diversity of Assessment Methods

Diversification of teaching methods is a requirement for quality:

In fact, we encourage and diversify teaching methods, and most of our observations in the recommendations concern teaching methods because they do not bother to diversify and change with different outputs and this thing we warn about. (A/1)

CATP 4. 2. Areas of Learning Outcomes

For learning outcomes to be achieved as required, they must be comprehensive:

Also, I want to point out that the National Qualifications Framework has identified 3 areas of learning outcomes Field of knowledge And the field of cognitive skills Ability to analyze, deduce, make judgments, solve problems, values, tendencies, trends, and soft Skills. (A/2)

CATP 4. 3. Assessment Methods Link to Learning Outcomes

Assessment methods are among the necessities of academic accreditation, through diversification and compatibility with learning outcomes:

This aspect is of great interest to accreditation processes and also what has been mentioned about traditional methods or focusing on one method of evaluation. This thing is no longer acceptable in the presence of the quality assurance and accreditation system. – Among the sub-standards is the existence of a standard for evaluating students’ performance, and this standard focuses on that the assessment methods are related to the learning outcomes, that they are suitable for the learning outcome to be measured, that there is a diversity in it, and that the judgment on the student’s acquisition of his skills is not based on one source only in the evaluation methods. – Also, I want to point out that the National Qualifications Framework has identified 3 areas of learning outcomes Field of knowledge And the field of cognitive skills Ability to analyze, deduce, make judgments, solve problems, values, tendencies, trends, and soft Skills – Accreditation standards say that there must be a link between the evaluation method and the learning outcome because what may be used to measure knowledge may not be suitable for measuring cognitive skill or communication skills. – In the assessment processes, we must make sure that the tests that are set for students actually measure what has been set to measure and that they are suitable for measuring the learning outcome. (A/2)

Another example:

Among the sub-standards is the existence of a standard for evaluating students’ performance, and this standard focuses on that the assessment methods are related to the learning outcomes, that they are suitable for the learning outcome to be measured, that there is a diversity in it, and that the judgment on the student’s acquisition of his skills is not based on one source only in the evaluation methods. (A/2)

CATP 4. 5. Benchmark

Internal and external comparison is a requirement to obtain program accreditation:

Of course, benchmark is a requirement for internal or external accreditation – So we ask them to support A comparison for themselves about a program such as finance or business administration program – We also ask them to make an external comparison, as we ask them to make a comparison with an accredited external program – This is one of the agreed criteria. (A/1)

Interview Questions

1. Accounting Educators & University Staff:

Introduction:

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me about the accounting education teaching methods currently being implemented in Saudi universities. As previously indicated, the overarching purpose of research is to gain insights into how the teaching and learning practices used in accounting subjects in Saudi Arabia could affect the students’ engagement, and how, and by whom, suggested modifications should be implemented.

Section 1:

Q1: I would like to begin by asking you to tell me about your perspectives on the current accounting education teaching methods, assessment methods and the teaching materials that you use to engage students?

Q2: Do you link the accounting subjects to the Saudi culture and Saudi labour market? How? Section 2:

Q1: What are other unused teaching and assessment methods and teaching materials that might help to get the students’ engagement? Why?

Q2: In your view, what is the best way to improve the students’ engagement within the Saudi culture for the local labour market? Why?

Section 3:

Q1: In the past, did you or any other educator initiate changes to their teaching methods, materials or assessment methods? What was the result?

Q2: How does curriculum development or the development of new teaching methods happen at your university?

Q3: What other teaching activities would you like to undertake to improve student engagement and link students to the Saudi culture and local labour market?

2. Ministry & SOCPA Members:

Introduction:

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me about the accounting education teaching methods currently being implemented in Saudi universities. As previously indicated, the overarching purpose of research is to gain insights into how the teaching and learning practices used in Saudi Arabia could affect the students’ engagement, and how, and by whom, suggested modifications should be implemented.

Section 1:

Q1: I would like to begin by exploring your perspectives on the current teaching and assessment methods and teaching at Saudi universities?

Q2: Do Saudi universities link the accounting subjects to the Saudi culture and labour market? How? Section 2:

Q1: What are other teaching and assessment methods and teaching materials that might improve students’ engagement? Why?

Q2: In your view, what is the best way to introduce accounting students to the Saudi culture for the local labour market? Why?

Section 3:

Q1: In the past, did anyone from the ministry/SOCPA member suggest teaching methods, materials, assessment methods or other initiatives?

Q2: What role can you (your organisation) play to foster the application of teaching methods that improve students’ engagement and link them to Saudi culture to prepare students for the local labour market?

أسئلة المقابلة

1 .أعضاء هيئة التدريس بقسم المحاسبة وصانعي القرار من الجامعة:

المقدمة:

شكرا ﻷخذ وقتك الثمين للتحدث معي حول طرق تدريس وتعليم المحاسبة التي يتم تنفيذها حاليا في الجامعات السعودية. كما هو موضح ساب ^ًقا ، فإن الغرض اﻷساسي من هذا البحث هو اكتساب نظرة ثاقبة حول كيفية تأثير ممارسات التعليم والتعلم المستخدمة في المملكة العربية السعودية ومدى تأثيرها على مشاركة الطالبات ، وكيف ، ومن الذي يجب أن يقوم

ب هذه التعديﻼت المقترحة للتنفيذ.

القسم :1 س :1 أود أن أبدأ باستكشاف وجهات نظرك حول طرق تدريس وتعليم المحاسبة الحالية وأساليب التقييم والمواد التعليمية

التي تستخدمها للحصول على مشاركة الطﻼب؟

س :2 هل تربط الموضوعات المحاسبية بالثقافة السعودية وسوق العمل السعودي؟ كيف؟

القسم :2 Q1:ما هي أساليب التدريس والتقييم والمواد التعليمية اﻷخرى غير المستخدمة التي قد تساعد في الحصول على مشاركة

الطﻼب؟ لماذا ا؟

Q2:في رأيك ، ما هي أفضل طريقة للتدريس للحصول على مشاركة الطالبات لتتوافق مع الثقافة السعودية وسوق العمل

السعودي؟ لماذا ا؟

القسم :3

س :1 في الماضي ، هل قام أي من أعضاء هيئة التدريس بالتغيير في طرق التدريس أو المواد التعليمية أو طرق التقييم؟

ماذا كانت النتيجة؟

س :2 كيف يحدث تطوير المناهج أو طرق التدريس الجديدة في جامعتك؟ س :3 ما اﻷنشطة اﻷخرى التي يمكنك القيام بها لتطبيق أنسب طريقة تدريس ﻹشراك الطﻼب وربطهم بالثقافة السعودية

وسوق العمل المحلي؟

.2 أعضاء الوزارة و :SOCPA

المقدمة:

شكرا ﻷخذ وقتك الثمين للتحدث معي حول طرق تدريس وتعليم المحاسبة التي يتم تنفيذها حاليا في الجامعات السعودية. كما هو موضح ساب ^ًقا ، فإن الغرض اﻷساسي من هذا البحث هو اكتساب نظرة ثاقبة حول كيفية تأثير ممارسات التعليم والتعلم المستخدمة في المملكة العربية السعودية ومدى تأثيرها على مشاركة الطالبات ، وكيف ، ومن الذي يجب أن يقوم

ب هذه التعديﻼت المقترحة للتنفيذ.

القسم :1

س :1 أود أن أبدأ باستكشاف وجهات نظرك حول طرق التدريس والتقييم الحالية والتدريس في الجامعات السعودية؟

س :2 هل تربط الجامعات السعودية الموضوعات المحاسبية بالثقافة وسوق العمل السعودي؟ كيف؟

القسم :2

س :1 ما هي طرق التدريس والتقييم والمواد التعليمية اﻷخرى التي يمكن أن تحسن مشاركة الطﻼب؟ لماذا ا؟

Q2:في رأيك ، ما هي أفضل طريقة لتعريف الطالبات على الثقافة السعودية لسوق العمل المحلي؟ لماذا ا؟

القسم :3 Q1:في الماضي ، هل اقترح أي شخص من أعضاء الوزارة SOCPA / طرق التدريس أو المواد التعليمية أو طرق

التقييم أو غيرها من المبادرات؟

س :2 ما هو الدور الذي يمكن أن تلعبه )منظمتك( لتعزيز تطبيق أساليب التدريس التي تعمل على تحسين مشاركة

الطﻼب وربطهم بالثقافة السعودية ﻹعداد الطﻼب لسوق العمل المحلي؟